Even after two long years of business-crushing Covid lockdown in states such as California and countries such as Canada, it is difficult to imagine what has been happening in the beautiful and once-vibrant city of Shanghai, China, for the past seven weeks – with little sign of ending soon, in spite of words to the…
Due to “significant realignment,” U.S.-based Catholic News Service (CNS), the news agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will end domestic operations at the end of 2022. “These changes, although painful, will allow the remaining functions — including the Catholic News Service Rome Bureau and the Office of Public Affairs — a more sustainable…
Communist Chinese crackdown in once-free Hong Kong continues to brutally intensify as beloved, 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, the retired former archbishop of Hong Kong, and others were arrested Wednesday in Hong Kong “on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces to endanger China’s national security.” Although early morning reports today indicate the cardinal has been released on…
KEEP IN MIND: If the U.S. Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade, the ruling will not mandate or make abortion illegal. Instead, it will put the decision regarding “legality,” back into the hands of the citizens of each individual state. It will no longer be a Federal law or mandate. The Judicial branch of the…
May 3, 2022
BOOK: Angels All Around Us: A Sightseeing Guide to the Invisible World (formerly titled The Invisible World) , by Anthony DeStefano (Doubleday, 2011) I usually don’t read books that are sent to me unbidden. Anthony DeStefano’s Angels All Around Us was mailed to me by Priests for Life, an organization I support financially. If I…
A Federal District Court in the case of Health Freedom Defense Fund v. Joe Biden has held that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) illegally forced passengers to wear face masks on airplanes and other public transportation since early last year. To be clear, this was not a decision that masks do not work or…
The video below is—by far—the most powerful, yet simply delivered, talk on Sister Faustina and Image of Divine Mercy ever. It was delivered during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, by Sr. Gaudia Skass of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy — the same congregation to which Sister Faustina belonged. Sr. Guadia…
CNA—One convert’s journey to Catholicism began with an invitation to an ice-cream social. Another says he instantly believed in the Real Presence the moment someone explained what the round object was that everyone was staring at during Eucharistic Adoration. For a third, the poems of T.S. Eliot — and a seemingly random encounter with a…
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI delivered these words, as Pope, during a pastoral visit to the Shroud of Turin in 2010— Dear Friends: This is a moment to which I have been looking forward. I have stood before the Holy Shroud on various occasions but this time I am experiencing this Pilgrimage and this moment with…
My relationship with New York Times best-selling author and speaker Matthew Kelly dates back to 2004 when another New York Times, best-selling author and friend Patrick Lencioni, brought him to my attention as a potential speaker for the Diocese of Oakland’s Catholics@Work (C@W) Speaker Series. Despite Kelly’s very busy schedule, we were able to bring…
The Consecration of Russia and the Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope and the bishops throughout the world, joined by the laity, will take place today, on the Solemnity of the Annunciation: March 25, 2022. The Holy Father has asked the Faithful of the world to join him and the bishops…
Vatican News—The Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary will be pronounced by the Pope on the afternoon of Friday 25 March in St Peter’s Basilica. The act of consecration will be performed in communion with the local Churches throughout the world. In response to questions from journalists, the director of…
Vatican News—Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday, 25 March, during the Celebration of Penance that he will preside over at 5pm in St Peter’s Basilica. The Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said in a statement: “The same act, on the same day,…
CNA, Arecibo, Puerto Rico—Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres, who was relieved Wednesday of his office as Bishop of Arecibo, said that he feels “blessed to suffer persecution and calumny.” In a letter published on the Diocese of Arecibos’ website shortly after the Holy See Press Office announced Pope Francis’ decision, Bishop Fernández Torres, 57, stated that…
Tears well up as we watch the short video below. While mainstream news, other news outlets, pundits, historians and “experts” of every stripe and perspective flood the airwaves and internet regarding the nightmare unfolding in Ukraine, the Knights of Columbus took—and are taking—strategic and meaningful action, quickly. Here is the story—culled from Catholic News Agency’s…
Crisis—As the world watches Ukraine right now, keep your eyes on Poland. Poland has had a special place in the history of the last 100 years, from turning back Russian communists at the Miracle on the Vistula in 1920 onward through World War II and the Cold War. I call Poland “the fulcrum.” Critical events…
Dear Friends of UCU around the world! Pope Francis has called on everyone to organize a Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace in Ukraine tomorrow on March 2, Ash Wednesday. On this day we all can share the sufferings of the Ukrainian people, to make everyone feel like brothers and sisters and to pray…
Vatican News (by Tiziana Campisi and Felipe Herrera)—As concerns about the war in Ukraine grow around the world, Cardinals Kurt Koch and Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot – presidents respectively of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue – joined the appeal for peace launched by the Pope…
The following is a CNA interview with Fr. Mark Morozowich, a priest for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma, Ohio. The Pennsylvania native is currently serving as dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. CNA—A Ukrainian Catholic priest who is the…
