Pope Francis recently announced 21 new cardinals. Each has chosen a new spiritual motto reflecting their inner devotion and priorities. CNA—Episcopal mottos selected when a Catholic priest is consecrated as a bishop are traditionally found at the base of his coat of arms and often remain unchanged when a cardinal becomes pope. Chosen Mottos of…
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…
So much has happened over the last 30 days and we have so many blessings for which to be grateful. Even so, inner anxiety and pressure to get things done can trigger unfortunate conflicts even among those we love the most. Wiser heads and hearts than ours, and examples from Church history, give us some…
Being in the second tier of qualification (over age 60) to get the Covid vaccine, Pat and I got our second Moderna shot just a few days before the snowstorm hit Texas. As with many others, we both had a substantial negative reaction to the second shot, but fortunately that only lasted for 24 hours.…
CNA—The Vatican’s report on Theodore McCarrick released Tuesday includes a letter written by an American cardinal in 1999, who objected to McCarrick’s potential appointment to higher office, on the basis of existing allegations of misconduct, including incidents involving sharing a bed with seminarians at a New Jersey beach house. On Oct. 28, 1999, Cardinal John…
CNA—The beatification of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, the former Primate of Poland who heroically resisted Communism, has been postponed because of the coronavirus. Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz said April 28 that the beatification would no longer take place as planned in Warsaw’s Piłsudski Square on June 7. “A pandemic threatening the health and life of people makes…
Big corporations are increasingly in the business of social politics these days. It’s all under the banner of corporate social responsibility (CSR). And Boston-based Cone Communications reports that the public’s appetite for it is growing. The consulting organization’s research points to 2017 as a watershed year saying that it marked the moment when consumers demanded…
Materialism, fantasy and false worship were the temptations Satan thrust at Christ, and he is tempting our nation the same way. These seductions are a formula for Socialism, which Winston Churchill in 1948 defined as “The philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.” A poorly educated generation succumbs to adolescent…
The Polish Bishops’ Conference has asked Pope Francis to name St. John Paul II a patron of Europe and doctor of the Church. Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan, president of the Polish Bishops Conference, sent the request to the pope on Oct. 22 – the feast day of John Paul II. “The pontificate of the…
CNA—As three airliners smashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, and Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, Joaquín Navarro-Valls, at the time the director of the Vatican press office, delivered the news to Pope John Paul II. “I remember that terrible afternoon as if it were yesterday.…
CNA—St. John Paul II’s encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason) will mark its 21st anniversary this year, on Sept. 14. Last year, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia reflected on this encyclical in his essay “Believe that you may Understand” that appeared in the March 2018 issue of First Things. It is worth revisiting this…
—Homily Given on the Occasion of the Annual Red Mass for the Diocese of Dallas, Most Rev. Salvatore Cordileone, Archbishop of San Francisco, October 13, 2018 -28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year “B”— Introduction Your Excellency Bishop Burns, Your Excellency Bishop Kelly, my brother priests, dear deacons, brothers and sisters in Christ: it is a…
About 200 people flocked to St. Raymond’s Catholic Church in Dublin, CA, this week to hear the Archbishop of Denver, Samuel J. Aquila, speak about how a strong lay apostolate movement was built in Denver (full transcript here). The evening was made possible by Catholics at Work, a faith-based organization that brings inspiring speakers to…
July 22, 2009 October 7, 1571, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. The Feast date was so named for the powerful role of the Rosary in winning the Battle of Lepanto; a victory that literally turned around the unrelenting tide of ongoing Islamic invasion and conquering of Christian Europe at the time. (Remember, today’s city of…
June 19, 2009 The ongoing demonstrations in Iran, touched off by public outrage at what is believed to be fraudulent vote counting in the recent Presidential election, has completed its sixth day. Not since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 has there been this much sustained, grass roots political protest in what is one of the world’s most closed…
April 3, 2009 VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org)— Below is a translation of the homily delivered by Pope Benedict XVI on April 2, at the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, to mark the fourth anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death. * * * [Translation from Italian:] Dear Brothers and Sisters! Four years ago, exactly today [April 2], my beloved…
September 3, 2008 Do you find it challenging to live a balanced Christian life that unites faith, family and work? Does your Christ-inspired faith sometimes get deflated throughout the course of everyday life? Many of us feel overwhelmed by the obstacles we face from an increasingly agnostic media, religious-indifferent work environments, and declining family-focused values. This constant battle…
