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Rumors are gathering in Rome that it might soon come to the convening of a consistory to create new cardinals. Cardinal appointments always mean a redesign of the elective body for a possible conclave. Next Saturday, a decent consistory will take place, where, according to Jan Hendrik Stens (Domradio), "surprises might be possible". Currently, according to the electoral code for a conclave, which provides for a maximum of 120 papal electors, five elective seats are free. Pope Francis could forgive these and keep a few more "already in stock,” as in the course of next year, five more seats will...

Was going to write a post about this. Decided a quick video would be faster on a Friday afternoon. Please feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments.Have a good weekend, everyone! Why Did All the Chilean Bishops Offer Pope Their Resignations?

Cardinal: German Politician Who Asked For Female Priests Is a Heretic Cardinal Walter Brandmüller has criticised Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the general-secretary of Merkel’s party CDU, for having said recently that she hopes for the ordination of women to the priesthood and wanted become a priestess herself. Writing in the German weekly Tagespost (May 17), Brandmüller said that Kramp-Karrenbauer as a politician and as a Catholic has crossed borders. Brandmüller stresses that whoever claims that a female priest is possible, has left the foundations of the Catholic Faith. And, “This person has committed the offence of heresy which results in an excommunication...

And fear ye not them that kill the body and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell. - Matthew 10:28 From love, Timothy Peter Leonard was created, and from hate, he was destroyed.Born on the Feast of the Holy Apostles, June 29, 1893, the County Limerick native seemed destined to win a martyr’s crown, like Saint Peter, who was crucified upside down in Nero’s amphitheater, and Saint Paul, who was beheaded with a sword in Aquae Salviae.But rather than in Rome, the Eternal City, he would win...

Last year, anno Domini 2017, was truly historic in many ways. Although it did not meet the expectations of some in regard to apocalyptic signs, the Fatima Centenary featured a host of significant happenings in the Church and the world, in general. Dubbed “a year of disaster” by CNBC, 2017 witnessed a variety of devastating natural disasters across the globe: flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes, mudslides, and wildfires, to name a few. For the Church, it could appropriately be styled the “year of resistance” – that is, of resisting Pope Francis “to the face” (Gal. 2:11).The first notable example that comes to mind...

Christians and Muslims: From Competition to Collaboration Dear Muslim Brothers and Sisters,In his Providence, God the Almighty has granted you the opportunity to observe anew the fasting of Ramadan and to celebrate ‘Id al-Fitr.The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue appreciates the importance of this month and the great effort by the Muslims throughout the world to fast, pray and share the Almighty’s gifts with the poor.Mindful of the gifts prompted by Ramadan, we join you in thanking the Merciful God for his benevolence and generosity, and we extend to you our heartfelt best wishes.The thoughts we would like to share...

Is the Church a Cruise Ship or a Battleship? Msgr. Charles Pope • May 17, 2018 • Some years ago, Fr. Patrick Smith, a friend of mine and a priest of this archdiocese, preached a sermon in which he asked if the Church was a clubhouse or a lighthouse.It seems that many people want the Church just to be a friendly place where people can gather. Many of these same people get angry when the Church shines the light of truth on something. They declare that the Church should just be open and inviting. They object when She is...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — In the biggest shake-up yet in the Catholic Church's long-running sex abuse scandal, every active Chilean bishop offered to resign Friday over what Pope Francis said was their "grave negligence" in investigating abuse and protecting children. The bishops announced at the end of an emergency Vatican summit that all 31 active bishops in Rome had signed a document offering to resign.

Justice Clarence Thomas speaks to Catholic graduatesFRONT ROYAL, Va. (ChurchMilitant.com) - A Supreme Court justice is boldly proclaiming his Catholic faith. On Saturday, Justice Clarence Thomas told the 39th graduating class of Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia that the school "is a decidedly Catholic college, and I am decidedly and unapologetically Catholic." "I have no doubt that this faith will do the same for each of you if you let it and perhaps even if you don't; it is not a tether," he continued. "But rather it is a guide, the way, the truth and the life." Christendom honored...

May 15, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – EWTN anchor Raymond Arroyo excoriated the “decadent spectacle” of the Met Gala last week, calling it “borderline sacrilege” and “garrish,” narcissistic,” and “campy.” In a scorching commentary on The World Over, the close associate of Mother Angelica slammed the Vatican for seemingly giving its “imprimatur” to the event, saying the Church needs to do some “soul-searching” about whether it’s engaging the culture or just giving in to it. “All I can say is the Church should have placed greater conditions and limits on the loan” of sacred vestments to the Met, he said. “The Metropolitan...

Red Double TODAY’S MARTYR CARRIES US BACK to the persecutions under the Roman Emperors. It was at Camerino, in Italy, that he bore his testimony to the true Faith; and the devotion wherewith he is honored by the people of those parts (which are under the temporal Sovereignty of the Roman Pontiff) has occasioned his Feast being kept throughout the Church. Let us, therefore, joyfully welcome this new champion, who fought so bravely for our Emmanuel. Let us congratulate him upon his having the privilege of suffering Martyrdom during the Paschal Season, all radiant as it is with the...

O rex gloriæ, Domine virtutum, qui triumphator hodie super omnes cœlos ascendisti, ne derelinquas nos orphanos; sed mitte promissum Patris in nos Spiritum veritatis, alleluia. O King of glory, Lord of hosts, who didst this day ascend in triumph above all the heavens! leave us not orphans, but send upon us the Spirit of truth, promised by the Father, alleluia. THE OCTAVE IS OVER; the mystery of the glorious Ascension is completed; and our Jesus is never again to be seen upon this earth until he come to judge the living and the dead. We are to see him...

May 18, 2018 Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 25:13b-21 King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesareaon a visit to Festus.Since they spent several days there,Festus referred Paul's case to the king, saying,"There is a man here left in custody by Felix.When I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jewsbrought charges against him and demanded his condemnation.I answered them that it was not Roman practiceto hand over an accused person before he has faced his accusersand had the opportunity to defend himself against their charge.So when they came together here,...

Catholic LifeFeaturedOur Beautiful Faith “My Country Needs to Know that God is So Beautiful” – FSSP Celebrates 500 Years of Mexican Catholicism 1P5 Staff May 17, 2018 0 Comments The following is a guest post by Fr. Daniel Heenan, an American priest in the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) currently serving the faithful in Mexico.  By Fr. Daniel Heenan, FSSPOn May 3rd, 1518, the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, a Spanish expedition sent from Cuba under the command of Juan de Grijalva landed on the coast of the island of Cozumel. Although they could not...

A retired Malaysian bishop has joined an appeal on behalf of traditional teaching about morality and the sacraments.Bishop Emeritus Anthony Lee Kok Hin, who retired from the diocese of Miri in 2013, endorsed the Pastoral Appeal, which has been signed by 250 priests in 39 countries since it was launched on May 2.In their latest statement, the organisers say that the statement has been “mistakenly cast” as a “veiled criticism” of Pope Francis’s Amoris Laetitia.Nevertheless, the statement, which asks bishops to publicly reaffirm Church teaching and condemn errors, refers indirectly to controversies which have followed Amoris.For instance, the pope’s document...

A German bishop has criticized a small minority in his nation’s episcopal conference for questioning the orthodoxy of the vast majority of bishops who favor a pastoral plan to allow non-Catholic spouses in inter-confessional marriages to receive the Eucharist at Mass.“We must get out of this way of argumentation which uses insinuation and suspicion and acts as if the position of the majority is out of line with church teaching,” said Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz.“I feel personally affected when, in their letter to Rome, the seven bishops warn that my vote and that of the majority of my fellow...

Bishop Athanasius Schneider explained in a talk in Rome this afternoon why Catholics as the "Church militant" — the souls fighting for Christ here on Earth — must combat the evils of today, including the evil of heresy within the Catholic Church. "When there is no battle, there is no Christendom. When there is no battle, there is no true Church of God, no true Catholic Church," said the Auxiliary bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, at the 2018 Rome Life Forum at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum).  "The Christian duty to fight against the sin, the errors and the...

Friedrich Nietzsche spoke of the “transvaluation of all values”: the inversion of our conceptions of good and evil in this post-Christian era. What had been regarded as good—humility, self-denial, obedience, love of the poor and of poverty, looking towards a world to come—was, in his system, to be seen as evil, and what had been regarded as evil—imposing one’s will by domination, satisfying one’s lusts, crushing the weak, dismissing thoughts of an afterlife, living for the moment—would now be virtues. The Übermensch or Superman would be the exact contrary of the Christian saint.As the atrocity of abortion demonstrates, Nietzsche’s view...

May 9, 2018 (National Catholic Register) – Rejoicing in the Easter glow, I hesitate to look back to two figures instrumental in the Passion and Death of the Lord, but I often get questions or comments about Judas and Pilate that demonstrate fundamental flaws in moral reasoning. Many people today either seek to exonerate them for their role in the crucifixion or they sympathize with them, citing what they view as exculpatory evidence. One approach is to see Judas and Pilate as mere puppets in a play written by God; they were only doing what they had to do. Such...

America's largest Catholic University hosted an event last week that featured a discussion reportedly glorifying open relationships and polyamory, concepts that violate Catholic teachings. Last Thursday, DePaul University in Chicago hosted the event "Polyamory Pause: A Dialogue on Open Relationships and Polyamory," which was hosted by the school's LGBTQIA+ Resource Center. Polyamory is a relationship construct where partners can have multiple sexual partners with the consent of all partners involved. According to the conservative website Campus Reform, discussion at the event included a wide number topics related to non-monogamous love and lust. According to a flyer that was photographed and...