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Featured Term (selected at random:BROTHERS' INSTITUTES Religious institutes of men whose members are either entirely or mainly brothers who are not and do not intend to be ordained. There are more than forty such institutes of pontifical status in the Catholic Church. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

At a conference at the North American College (NAC) in Rome yesterday sponsored by Crux, the Boston Globe’s new Catholic website (video here), Australian Cardinal George Pell remarked that he was going to be a bit “ecclesiastically incorrect.” He noted the high level of trouble the family is in, not just in the developed countries, but around the world – and the quite difficult situations a conscientious bishop very quickly encounters. “I might also be tempted to hope that Christ had been a bit softer on divorce,” he concluded, “But He wasn’t. And I stick with Him.” Perhaps the most...

Divisions among Christians “hurt the Church and they wound Christ,” Pope Francis said to tens of thousands of visitors gathered in Saint Peter’s Square Wednesday morning. During her journey through history, “the Church is tempted by the devil who tries to divide it,” the Pope said, and unfortunately, “she has been marred by serious and painful divisions.”

And so, now the synod settles into the real work. But what is that work? One of the prominent stories to have come out of yesterday’s session (Tuesday) was that Jeff and Alice Heinzen, an American couple from La Crosse, Wisconsin, married for thirty-four years, told the pope and bishops that the Church is failing to deal with the collapse of the traditional family. Now, it’s news that a lay couple said this in a synod; but it’s hardly news to anyone, Catholic or not, that the family is in crisis, multiple crises. Or that the Church has failed to...

Open Windows Today's Scripture “Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (Malachi 3:10, AMP) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria God promises to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings on you today! But, you have to do your part of this verse. Your part...

Coming to Jesus " Come to Me . . . —Matthew 11:28 " Isn’t it humiliating to be told that we must come to Jesus! Think of the things about which we will not come to Jesus Christ. If you want to know how real you are, test yourself by these words— “Come to Me . . . .” In every dimension in which you are not real, you will argue or evade the issue altogether rather than come; you will go through sorrow rather than come; and you will do anything rather than come the last lap of...

Why would intelligent, successful people give up their careers, alienate their friends, and cause havoc in their families...to become Catholic? Indeed, why would anyone become Catholic? As an evangelist and author who recently threw my own life into some turmoil by deciding to enter the Catholic Church, I've faced this question a lot lately. That is one reason I decided to make this documentary; it's part of my attempt to try to explain to those closest to me why I would do such a crazy thing. Convinced isn't just about me, though. The film is built around interviews with some...

There’s a necessary humility in acknowledging our utter inability to live chastely outside the grace of God. The first step, it seems to me, is to acknowledge our complete need for God in winning the battle. Thomas Merton wrote that “real self-conquest is the conquest of the self by the Holy Spirit.” This is most true in the battle for chastity. St. John Cassian teaches that human effort alone will never make someone chaste: If we really desire to enter into this spiritual combat on the same terms as the spostle (2 Tim. 4:7), let us concentrate our every effort...

The mood in Rome is – let’s just speak the truth – tense. According to one quite reliable source on site, it’s not only the “Ratzingerians” like Cardinal Burke who have been feeling an icy wind. It’s also more “moderate” Cardinals and members of the Curia who simply don’t know what to make of what’s going on. And fear what might happen if they say the “wrong” thing – difficult to avoid when things are so unclear. I reported on some of the pope’s harshness towards upholders of tradition in yesterday’s Synod Report, an odd homily that might be taken...

(CNSNews.com) – “Christians must do everything within their powers to protect their lives from being snuffed off by Satanist-driven Islamic organizations,” Bishop Joseph Bagobiri, the Roman Catholic head of Nigeria’s Kafanchan Diocese, said Sunday, according to Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper. Bishop Bagobiri also noted, according to the Vanguard, that Christians have a "grave duty" to use “moderate and proportionate force” to defend their families against Islamic groups such as Boko Haram, which is responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians since 2009. Boko Haram became internationally known after it staged a mass kidnapping of more than 250 Nigerian schoolgirls in...

Do you remember that toy called Sock ‘Em Robots in which two plastic robot boxers bashed each other while two kids were controlling their left hooks, blocks and body blows? It came to mind with last week’s clash between two Vatican heavyweights Cardinals Burke and Kasper. Catholic New Service issued videos featuring the two cardinals expressing their points of view. Video Kasper could be summed up as, “couples in a second marriage show love and tenderness. We should do the same and forgive.” Video Burke was, “Jesus said if a man divorces his wife and marries another he commits adultery....

Featured Term (selected at random:KEVELAER Place of pilgrimage in North Germany, not far from the Dutch border. A Marian shrine where many disabled and sick children have been healed. In 1641 a trader on three successive nights heard a voice telling him, "Build a sanctuary in my honor here." Simultaneously his wife had an apparition of a lovely lady, and recalled an itinerant soldier selling a cheap paper picture of the Madonna. The soldier was found and the picture was bought, but because of the crowds it attracted to her small cottage she gave the picture to the village church....

Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester, New York, has issued a set of comprehensive guidelines for the administration of the sacraments, calling for careful attention to the liturgical and canonical rules of the Church. In a cover letter introducing the guidelines, Bishop Matano urges ministers to “take very seriously the implementation of all that is needed and required for the proper celebration and reception” of the sacraments. His message implicitly acknowledged that the Church’s norms had frequently been ignored in parishes of the Rochester diocese.

Full disclosure: A New Yorker, I have lived and worked in Germany for the past 6 years and I happen to speak German as my first language. I have also edited the Winter 2014 edition of REGINA Magazine, which involved interviewing dozens of German priests and laity about the German Church and the situation of the Faith in Germany.So, I feel duty-bound to share this on-the-ground knowledge with the rest of the English-speaking world — at least those who read REGINA Magazine — about what is motivating the German Bishops in the upcoming synod in Rome on the family. Using...

Bishop Domenico Sigalini of Palestrina, Italy, presented a clear explanation of the Church's teaching on conjugal love, the expression of sexuality as instituted by God, and marriage in an exclusive interview with LifeSiteNews from the Vatican this week. "As regards the mentality of the Church which comes from the teachings of Holy Scriptures and all the teachings of the magisterium of the Church, we say that sexuality in man is an important aspect. But the objective of sexuality is to continue life," said Sigalini, president of Italy’s Episcopal Commission of Laity in Italy. The bishop said that while couples can...

So the greatest trick of the Devil is convincing people he doesn’t exist? Pope Francis is not impressed. Starting with his very first homily as the bishop of Rome, Pope Francis has regularly reminded believers that the Devil is real, that we must be on guard, and that our only hope against him is in Jesus Christ. Here are are 13 of Pope Francis’ most direct quotes on the matter. Read all the quotes here: http://www.churchpop.com/2014/10/07/13-pope-francis-quotes-oldest-foe-devil/

Heaven’s Currency Today's Scripture “And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22, AMP) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria In the natural realm, we exchange money for the things we want and need. But in the spiritual realm, faith is what we exchange. The Bible tells us that when you pray, have faith, and you will receive it. Faith moves mountains. Faith pleases God. Faith is what opens spiritual doors. What is faith? It’s believing in God and His goodness. It’s knowing that He is a rewarder of those who...

The Nature of Reconciliation " He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him —2 Corinthians 5:21 " Sin is a fundamental relationship— it is not wrong doing, but wrong being— it is deliberate and determined independence from God. The Christian faith bases everything on the extreme, self-confident nature of sin. Other faiths deal with sins— the Bible alone deals with sin. The first thing Jesus Christ confronted in people was the heredity of sin, and it is because we have ignored this in our presentation...

Featured Term (selected at random:OIL OF THE SICK The olive oil blessed by the bishop of a diocese for use in the sacrament of anointing of the sick. Commonly abbreviated O.I. (oleum infirmorum, oil of the sick) on oil stocks used by priests. Until 1874, when Pope Paul VI published the new Order of Anointing the Sick, olive oil was prescribed for the valid administration of the sacrament. This is no longer necessary. Any oil from plants is permissible in case of necessity; and the blessing by a bishop, though ordinarily required, may now be supplied by a duly authorized...

While Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium is in Rome for the synod on the family, I hope that he has a chance to visit Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The retired prelates may wish to reminisce about synods past, especially the 1985 extraordinary assembly on the 20th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. St. John Paul had called the special synod in January 1985 to assess how Vatican II had been received in the life of the Church, examining both achievements and failures. In 1985, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was still in his first years as John Paul’s doctrinal...