In light of the soon-to-begin pilgrimage route from the West, named the Serra Route, that will end in Indianapolis at the National Eucharistic Convention, we re-post this important article on Fr. Serra penned by the Archbishop of San Francisco, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone: To the protesters who tore down his statue in Los Angeles [in July…
Bianca Jagger just issued a thundering warning about Nicaragua’s human rights abuses: “Just like the Castro Regime did in Cuba during the 1960s,” she wrote in the U.K.’s Independent, Nicaragua has put “harsh restrictions on religious freedom, practices, and church processions. Catholic education has been forbidden.” She even compares the country’s current purge of the Catholic…
CNA—Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, provided both diagnoses of and prescriptions for the most pervasive spiritual maladies of our times in an interview with EWTN News Rome correspondent Colm Flynn. One of the most popular bishops in the United States and founder of the Word on Fire evangelization ministry, Barron told Flynn the spiritual…
What is it that would move a young person to seek to live a deeply spiritual life? To dedicate his or her life to Jesus Christ, even to the point of forsaking all else in order to pursue him, and him alone, in a life of service to God’s Church in Holy Orders or religious…
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published a document (Understanding Abortion Pills: Q & A on Chemical Abortions) to explain its concerns about the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval and deregulation of a chemical abortion pill, which is the subject of an ongoing U.S. Supreme Court case. A lawsuit filed by the pro-life…
CNA—A broad coalition of 151 Catholics including medical professionals, bioethicists, and scholars released a joint letter this past week expressing concern about new guidelines issued by a major neurological society regarding “brain death” — a hotly contested topic in the medical community and among people of faith. American Association of Neurology changes guidelines on brain…
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron issued a spiritual call to arms to Detroit’s Catholics this Lenten season, explaining how by accepting ashes, they have engaged in a 40-day campaign to overcome sin. The archbishop gave his traditional preaching during the midday Ash Wednesday Mass on Feb. 14 at St. Aloysius Parish, a few blocks from Detroit’s…
Vatican News—Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, has released another critique of the Synod on Synodality, arguing that the ongoing discussion and discernment process offers “two opposing visions” of the nature, organization, and role of the Church. On the one hand “On the one hand, the Church is presented as founded…
ACI Prensa—Four bishops from the Mexican state of Guerrero recently met with members of organized crime in an effort to seek peace in a region shaken by violent clashes and death. During a Feb. 14 press conference, Bishop José de Jesús González of the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa said that the prelates of the area “began…
OSV News—With the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers set to square off in Super Bowl LVIII, two faith-based nonprofits each stand to win big — thanks to a friendly wager between the Catholic bishops in the teams’ respective cities. Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop James V. Johnston of Kansas…
Homily at the Mass for the Walk for Life West Coast; Votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary the New Eve Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, January 20, 2024 — Readings: Rev 21:1-5a; Is 61:10a-d, f, 11; 62:2-3; Jn 2:1-11 The entrance chant for our Mass today – “All the earth will worship…
Dearest Brothers and Sisters, May the Lord give you Peace! Tonight’s Gospel echoes the voice of a deep feeling, which I believe we all share: “there was no room for them” (Lk. 2:7). As it was for Mary and Joseph so it seems for us today that there is no room for Christmas. For too…
One of the titles by which we address Our Blessed Mother in the Litany of Loreto is Mirror of Justice (Speculum Iustitiae). The title reminds us that we see in Mary the image of how to live in obedience to God’s law and so grow in the likeness of Christ, that is, grow in the…
CNA—At a congressional hearing on Thursday, Nov. 30, members of Congress and human rights activists urged Nicaragua dictator Daniel Ortega to immediately release imprisoned Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who they said is being mistreated and possibly tortured. U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Hearing The hearing, which was held by the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global…
Word on Fire—Now that I’ve had a bit of time to readjust to my normal rhythm and to think through the rather extraordinary experience of the last month in Rome, I would like to share some impressions of the Synod on Synodality, even as I will endeavor not to violate the pope’s request that we…
In his sixth pastoral letter on male spirituality, Maronite Bishop Gregory Mansour says that “fatherhood is expected of all men, whether biological, natural, or spiritual.” In the Oct. 12 letter titled “The man of God is a man for others: Some themes in men’s spirituality,” Mansour, said that there are “some worrisome trends” in the…
LifeSiteNews—The following is the official English statement from Bishop Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary of Astana, Kazakhstan, in response to the news that Pope Francis has removed Bishop Joseph Strickland from his Diocese of Tyler. “The one charge which is now sure to secure severe punishment is the careful keeping of the traditions of the Fathers.” These…
CNA—Beginning Aug. 4, 2022, Rolando Álvarez, the bishop of Matagalpa and the apostolic administrator of Estelí in Nicaragua, was prevented from leaving his residence by the Nicaraguan police. Two weeks later in the middle of the night, the police broke into the residence, abducted him, and took him to Managua, where he was held under…
CNA—Just days before the Synod on Synodality kicked off its first round of meetings at the Vatican, a letter from Cardinal Joseph Zen was leaked to media, voicing serious concerns to cardinals and bishops worldwide about the gathering in Rome, and advocating for changes to the synod process as well as spirited discussions of the…
Following a report that Pope Francis and Vatican officials held a meeting earlier this month to discuss requesting the resignation of Tyler, Texas, Bishop Joseph Strickland, the prelate said on Wednesday he has not been contacted by the Vatican about such matters. In addition, Strickland said if Pope Francis were to remove him from office…
