According to the Austrian Catholic website Kath.net, Pope Francis is considering allowing the ordination of so-called viri probati. These “tested men” are said to have “proved their worth” by living virtuously in their marriages and in parish life, indicating a proposed relaxation of the requirement of celibacy in the priesthood for these men who would…
In a new open letter rebutting points made by Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments (CDW), pope Francis has made clear that he is not in agreement with the African cardinal’s commentary on his recent liturgical moto proprio, Magnum Principium. This public “calling out” of the cardinal responsible…
Upon the occasion of visiting the relic of St. Thomas More, Cardinal Raymond Burke reflected in comments to the National Catholic Register on the heavy responsibility of those who act as jurists and members of government (presumably, the cardinal intended also to include members of ecclesiastical government) to serve divine law. In his remarks, Burke…
In the important newspaper “la Repubblica” of which he is the founder, Eugenio Scalfari, an undisputed authority of Italian secular thought, last October 9 returned to speaking in the following terms about what he sees as a “revolution” of this pontificate, in comments by Francis that are derived from his frequents conversations with him: “Pope Francis…
“We also find it hard,” says the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (37) “to make room for the consciences of the faithful, who very often respond as best they can to the Gospel amid their limitations, and are capable of carrying out their own discernment in complex situations.” It is indeed strange, amongst endless ecclesiastical discussions on “mercy”, “dialogue”, and the insistence that we…
In a report last week at Ireland’s The Independent, we learned that Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick wants those involved in same-sex “marriages” to attend the World Meeting of Families in Ireland next year. “We’ve had the referendum in favour of same-sex marriage,” Leahy said, “and a lot of people voted in that referendum and all are equally…
Speaking in Rome on October 11th, 2017 (55th anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II), at a conference promoting the ‘New Evangelization’, Pope Francis made known his will for the Catechism of the Catholic Church to be revised so as to condemn capital punishment as absolutely immoral in principle. He declared the death penalty to be “in itself contrary to…
Image: a modified photo taken from House of Ilona, a UK-based clerical apparel store. We have become aware of a story — an anecdote published three years ago in a Swiss Capuchin journal and never denied by the Vatican — relating a conversation between the pope and an unnamed archbishop in which the pope is alleged…
From the good folks at St. John Cantius parish comes yet another Catholic cultural event worth promoting: The Catholic Art Guild and St. John Cantius parish of Chicago will present a conference titled “Beauty and the Restoration of the Sacred” on Saturday, Oct 29th. The keynote speaker will be philosopher Sir Roger Scruton, and also included…
Today, the website of the German bishops, Katholisch.de, surprises its readers with the publication of a story detailing an initiative which has been launched in order to support Pope Francis himself against the critics who signed the 24 September Filial Correction. The new group is called “Pro Pope Francis” and now has its own website,…
Image: Pope Pius XII” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by truerestoration In 1952 Pope Pius XII said the following, in a public address recorded among his official acts: Even when it is a question of the execution of a condemned man, the State does not dispose of the individual’s right to life. In this case it is reserved to the public power…
