Embed from Getty Images Cardinal Zen, the 84-year-old Catholic prelate who has long symbolized the struggle between the authentic and state-sanctioned versions of Catholicism in Communist China, has been in the news twice in the past month. This week, he offered a TLM in Cebu City, Philippines: A Traditional Latin Mass offered by retired Hong Kong…
Yesterday, Pope Francis addressed the Italian Committee on Bioethics, saying that they should take up the challenge of countering today’s “throwaway culture” which “takes on many forms, including treating human embryos as disposable material, as well as sick and elderly people approaching the end”. The Pope also asked them to harmonise standards and norms in the…
There have been any number of stories about the groups who, having attended this year’s March for Life, got stuck going home on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The most popular story concerns an altar made out of snow, upon which Mass was celebrated, right there, on the side of the highway. But the one I found…
La Stampa‘s “Vatican Insider” section is reporting that Vincenzo Cardinal Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council on the Family, announced the impending release of Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation at a course on the family in Portugal this week. The Italian cardinal said he was certain that the Pope’s text will focus on a Catholic Church that “ventures out”…
“But let your speech be yea, yea: no, no: and that which is over and above these, is of evil.” – Mt. 5:37 Every parent knows the truth about setting an example. Children are perceptive. They’re wired for subtext. They don’t care about what you say nearly as much as what you do. If you…
Last week, I shared a report from Sandro Magister about a Lutheran group in Rome receiving Holy Communion at a Catholic Mass after a meeting with Pope Francis. Some commenters later questioned how accurate the story was. In a followup from LifeSiteNews, we hear a bit more detail about what happened: A group of Finnish Lutherans…
In my post earlier today, I quoted Pope Francis on the topic of what Saul did in the Old Testament. This was the basis for his comments about Christians with “closed hearts,” the “sin of divination” when adhering to tradition, and the sin of “idolatry” when Christians are “obstinate.” The papal statement in question: “In the…
A few days ago, when speaking with a close friend, I said, “Pope Francis has been quiet for a while now, but I can feel it coming. A whole new barrage is just around the corner.” Somewhere, deep in my soul, I heard the distant whistle of incoming ecclesiastical artillery. The Vatican war machine appears to be…
Well, it’s already January 20th, and the good news is, we’re off to a roaring start. New articles, new authors, new topics, new podcasts (soon, soon), and a whole year ahead of us to grow and create and find new and better ways to share the beauty of the Catholic Faith and tradition with our audience. The…
On his blog at l’Espresso, Vatican-watcher Sandro Magister relates the events of an ecumenical gathering happening in Rome this week. We’re still working on getting an official translation, but Google translate (with a little grammatical assistance from your editor) provides us with this: “I ask myself: but we have the same baptism? If we have…
I’ve come to realize that for all its distractions, Social Media serves as a reminder of the fragility of life, the closeness of death, and the ever-present tragedies that intermingle with our joys in this Vail of Tears. Over the years, I’ve heard more heartbreaking stories than I care to think about, all of them…
