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What St. Paul’s Example Can Teach Us About Authority Msgr. Charles Pope • October 5, 2016 • In daily Mass we have been reading from second chapter of the Letter to the Galatians. In it, St. Paul recounts his personal history and describes his authority. the reviewing the faith journey of St. Paul, who describes his personal history and also his authority in the second chapter of the Letter to the Galatians. St. Paul’s story is interesting for three reasons. It can help to correct notions that some have that St. Paul’s ascended to the office of apostle (bishop)...

“See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). October 2 is observed in the Catholic Church as the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. In 1670, Pope Clement X established this day in the universal calendar as a day to honor the angels who protect us each day.While most of the attention this day is given to personal Guardian Angels, it is a tradition in the Church (taught by theologians such as Saint Thomas...

In the one and the other the pope has made it known what kind of implementation he wants for the eighth chapter of “Amoris Laetitia,” the one about communion for the divorced and remarried. His approved spokesmen: the Argentine bishops and his cardinal vicar by Sandro Magister ROME, October 4, 2016 – There was a big stir all around the world over the letter of commendation written by Pope Francis to the Argentine bishops of the region of Buenos Aires, praised for how they have been able to give the right interpretation of “Amoris Laetitia” - meaning that of Francis...

St. Francis’ Feast Day and the Things We Can Learn from Cats and Dogs Msgr. Charles Pope • October 3, 2016 • Here at Holy Comforter-St Cyprian Parish in Washington, D.C., we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi with the blessing of the animals. Although most folks bring dogs to be blessed, there are usually some who bring cats and a few other animals like ferrets. Once, someone even brought a snake!Over the years, I have shared with the dog owners a list of “Things we can learn from dogs.” When I was growing up, we always...

Never Give Up: St. Augustine’s Stirring Call to Pastors Msgr. Charles Pope • October 2, 2016 • Today I would like to present excerpts from a stirring sermon that St. Augustine delivered to the priests and people of Hippo. In times like these we must all be reminded of the need to preach the Word of God even if the recipients of that word revile us, labeling our very proclamation of love “hate speech.” This is not new; St. Augustine calls us to be resolute and to preach the Word of God in season and out of season. This...

Despite the Vatican’s assertion that a so-called sex-change surgery does not alter the sex of a person, Pope Francis has nevertheless chosen to refer to a woman who underwent a sex-change operation as a “man,” and also referred to her as having “married” another woman and admitted to receiving them in the Vatican last year. As with most of his most controversial remarks, the statements came during an in-flight press scrum. On October 2, on his return flight from his papal visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan, the Pope referred to a woman who “felt like a man” but “was physically...

“Throughout my life as a priest, bishop and even as Pope, I have accompanied people with a homosexual inclination and who practice homosexuality.

The German blog Nur ein Kreuzknappe (Only a Crusader’s squire) reported earlier today that on Friday evening a peace dove Francis released skyward promptly flew smack dab into a wall! No, we at Call Me Jorge... are not kidding. The peace dove really did fly into the wall surrounding the courtyard of the Church of St. Shimun Bar Sabbae in Tbilisi, Georgia.

“Today there is a global war to destroy marriage,” the Pope said during a meeting in Tbilisi with priests, religious, seminarians and lay people active in parish life.

Five Fundamentals for a Firm Faith – A Homily for the 27th Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope • October 1, 2016 • The readings for today’s Mass richly describe some essential qualities of faith. There are five fundamentals that can be seen:1. Wanting – The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5-6). There’s an old saying, “What you want, you get.” Many doubt this, thinking that they have wanted many things that they did not get. But it is likely that they just didn’t want it enough. When we really want something (provided it...

Beauty in Word and Image: A Short Review of Bishop Barron’s “Pivotal Players” Series Msgr. Charles Pope • September 30, 2016 • On Fridays, I typically feature a short video that illustrates the faith, usually in some unintentional ways. Today, I’d like to call to your attention to a new series of videos by Bishop Robert Barron, which intentionally set forth the faith: Catholicism: The Pivotal Players. The first volume of the series has been released and covers St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, Michelangelo, Blessed John Henry Newman, and G.K. Chesterton. One or...

On 9/14/2016 I legitimately lost a game of Scrabble to my wife. Why? What good can possibly come from this? Come along with me as I examine this life changing event. https://youtu.be/u7utxC08Ww8

Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec said he has no intention to follow in the steps of his fellow Canadian bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories in refusing funerals for those who asked to be euthanized. “I don’t plan specific directives aimed at refusing this support or refusing access to the anointing of the sick and the celebration of funerals,” Cardinal Lacroix said in a statement Sept. 29. The cardinal was reacting to a document published earlier this month by the bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories, addressed to the clergy, in which they said these sacraments and celebrations...

Catechism of the Catholic Church The catechism clearly states that Christ condemns adultery Adultery refers to marital infidelity. When two partners, of whom at least one is married to another party, have sexual relations – even transient ones – they commit adultery. Christ condemns even adultery of mere desire (cf. Mt 5:27–28). The sixth commandment and the New Testament forbid adultery absolutely (cf. Mt 5:32; 19:6; Mk 10:11; 1Cor 6:9–10). The prophets denounce the gravity of adultery; they see it as an image of the sin of idolatry (cf. Hos 2:7; Jer 5:7; 13:27). (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no....

Cardinal in prayer for peace in the cathedral: People are grateful world that Francis "exemplifies the Gospel", within the church, there are hostile - Call for "patience" for Vatican ruling on Medjugorje Vienna (kath.net/KAP) Cardinal Christoph Schönborn has expressed shock at the resistance from Church circles against Pope Francis: "It hurts me that he faces so much hostility - within the Church. What is this? He is the successor of Peter! He's the pope!" said the Archbishop of Vienna on Tuesday in his homily during the Medjugorje prayer of peace, "Message for you" in the cathedral. Many people in the...

Some of the scholars who sent an appeal to the 218 Cardinals and patriarchs are under fire for urging corrective measures to clarify “a number of statements that can be understood in a sense that is contrary to Catholic faith and morals” in Amoris Laetitia. A few weeks ago, a letter from Pope Francis surfaced that expressed the Holy Father’s support to the bishops of the Buenos Aires, Argentina, pastoral region that read: “No other interpretation” of Amoris Laetitia is valid, consequently allowing the distribution of Holy Communion to divorced/remarried (Catholics) in some cases — certainly one of the hot...

A Picture of the Spiritual Life from Job Msgr. Charles Pope • September 29, 2016 • Consider a verse from the Book of Job that was read in the Liturgy earlier this week (Wednesday of the 26th Week of the Year):God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? (Job 9:3)At first glance, we might read this to mean that we don’t dare talk back to God or resist Him lest He punish us, but this would be a superficial interpretation. The text surely speaks more richly, of the spiritual life and...

The world is falling into darkness, and Pope Francis is promoting human dignity, gender sanity, religious freedom, peace against terrorism, and, yes, marriage, in effective ways that can reach new people.

The following is from an article published in the September 2016 edition of Central California Catholic Life by Fr. Jim Rude, SJ, Co-Editor: I’m getting to be an old man, brushing the mid eighties, and I find that in these past few years, I have been doing a lot
 of reminiscing, thinking of people, places, events. I remember the theology we were taught in the early days, a theology that was rather simple, and in a way, rather sad. For there was not a great deal of explanation. I went to Mass every Sunday with my family, wouldn’t miss it,...

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the papacy of Pope Francis is his unification of traditional Catholics and conservative Catholics. What started as an uncivil war in March 2013 -- when traditional Catholic sources such as Rorate (which was intimately familiar with Cardinal Bergoglio's work in Argentina) predicted a massive shift to the left, only to be harshly criticized by many Catholic conservatives who blindly defended Bergoglio as one who would continue the incremental restoration of Pope Benedict XVI -- has grown to a point where both camps are now singing from the same Liber.