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Assisted by US airstrikes, forces of the autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan have retaken the historically Christian towns of Tel Isqof (or Telskuf) and Batnaya from the Sunni jihadist forces. Christian residents who returned to Tel Isqof were “shocked” by the level of destruction committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Assyrian International News Agency reported. They restored crosses to their churches before beginning the task of cleaning up their town. Additional sources for this storySome links will take you to other sites, in a new window. Interactive Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Los Angeles...

Featured Term (selected at random:KIDDUSHIN Literally "sanctification," the Jewish marriage service and state of matrimony. Essential to the wedding is the ring ceremony, in which the groom places the ring on the forefinger of the bride's right hand and says, "Behold thou art consecrated unto me, according to the law of Moses and of Israel." The ceremony takes place under a Huppah or (canopy), symbolizing the new home to which the groom is taking the bride. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

In April 2013, the parents of slain U.S. journalist James Foley attended a prayer vigil at Marquette University in Milwaukee to pray for their son, who at that time had disappeared in Syria. Before Diane and John Foley had confirmation that spring that their son was missing, Diane said she just felt it - he had missed one of his usual phone calls home - and once they knew for sure, the couple said they were relying on their Catholic faith to cope and leaning on prayer to bring him home. “Faith has been part of family life, but this...

Instagram is famous for people posting tons of selfies and pet pictures. However, it can be used for good. I’ve found a few Catholics who really use it as a platform for their faith. It will never be a complete catechism but it can help you in your walk with the Lord. Instagram is all about being beautiful and beauty is an important way to see God today (as my Instagram bio reminds you). These Instagrammers are good for every Catholic to follow; adult or teen, in ministry or barely hanging onto their faith. I chose these based on a...

The Jewish people took the burial of the dead quite seriously; it was the way a community paid its last respects to the one who died. The Scriptures laid down quite firmly that no dead body was to be left unburied—even that of one’s worst enemy. Perhaps one of the stronger horrors that a Jewish person could imagine was stated in Psalm 78: They have thrown the bodies of thy servants as food for the birds of heaven; wild beast feast on the corpses of the just.The dead, therefore, had a right to ceremonial care. As soon as a...

August 21, 2014Memorial of Saint Pius X, Pope    Reading 1 Ez 36:23-28 Thus says the LORD:I will prove the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations, in whose midst you have profaned it.Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.For I will take you away from among the nations,gather you from all the foreign lands,and bring you back to your own land.I will sprinkle clean water upon youto cleanse you from all your impurities,and from all your idols I will cleanse...

James Foley in Aleppo in 2012. The news broke late yesterday that Islamic State jihadists executed freelance journalist James Foley and posted a video of his beheading. Foley, 40, had been missing for two years while covering the conflict in Syria. I am not going to link to the video or include screen shots from it, but I will share another link that has been circulating since the news of Foley’s brutal death: an article he wrote for the alumni magazine of Marquette University, his alma mater. The piece is about the time Foley spent imprisoned in Libya in...

Archbishop Coakley sues satanic group to hand over consecrated Host.With one month to go before a satanic group in Oklahoma City a public “black mass,” the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is suing to force the group to hand over a consecrated Host it claims to have. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the District Court of Oklahoma County, claims Satanic leader Adam Daniels and his religious organization, the Dakhma of Angra Mainyu, have "unlawfully taken possession of property belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, specifically a Consecrated Host." Daniels, who has claimed publicly to have the Host, clarified in an interview...

VATICAN CITY — China has reacted cautiously to a bid by Pope Francis to open new dialogue with Beijing, with some officials quick to warn the Vatican not to “interfere” with the country’s religion. On his return flight from a five-day tour of South Korea, Francis said he was ready to go to China — “For sure! Tomorrow!” — after receiving a positive response to two goodwill telegrams he sent to President Xi Jinping as the pope flew over Chinese airspace. “We respect the Chinese people,” Francis told journalists on the return flight Monday (Aug. 18). “The church only asks...

I want to consider three things in this blog: first, the harm that has been done; second, our white gaze; and third, nonviolent direct action. The harm Michael Brown is dead at 18. He graduated from high school and was headed for college. The promise of his life is gone. He leaves behind parents and brothers and sisters, extended family, friends, neighbors, teachers. His body lay in the street for hours and the watchers, standing outside the yellow crime-scene tape, must have been harmed by that experience. For all of them, Michael's death leaves a lifelong void. What can be...

Residents of Ferguson “are struggling to find peace in the chaos” that has followed the shooting death of an unarmed teen by a police officer and “as people of Christ, we are struggling to find direction in the unrest,” said Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis. “We are all aware of the turmoil and tragedy our St. Louis community is experiencing,” he said in an Aug. 18 letter to Catholics of the archdiocese. After visiting Ferguson, about 11 miles from downtown St. Louis, and offering prayers at a memorial there to 18-year-old Michael Brown, Archbishop Carlson said he has...

Professor Jerry A. Coyne, professor of Ecology and Evolution at The University of Chicago, wrote one of the nastiest anti-Catholic diatribes I've read in a while; painting the Church as barbaric, sexist, and medieval and accusing it for torturing women. And then because he was still feeling it, he compared the Church to the most evilest of organizations in his estimation - The National Rifle Association. Insert gasp here. And The New Republic saw nothing wrong with this and decided to publish it. The issue at hand has to do with a woman in Ireland (but not a citizen there)...

American journalist James Foley, who appears to have been killed by Islamic State terrorists Below: Fr Paul Gousse leaves the Foley family home in Rochester, Boston (PA) Islamic State have released a gruesome video appearing to show American photo journalist James Wright Foley being beheaded by a masked militant. Foley went missing in Syria in November 2012 while working for the GlobalPost agency.Mr Foley came from a Catholic family in Rochester, New Hampshire. On Tuesday Fr Paul Gousse, of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, where the Foleys are parishioners, spent about 45 minutes at the house before leaving without...

His name is Andy, he is 12 years old. He was taken by CPS from his guardian and put into a foster home. I have reason to suspect he was abused, but am waiting for everything to come out in the wash with the trial. The child has suffered so much in his early life and all he ever wanted was a home. Pray the justice system works and this boy finds it.

Featured Term (selected at random:OMNIPRESENCE God being simultaneously wherever he is, since he is present everywhere. The divine omnipresence is twofold, by nature and by grace. By nature God is present in all things by essence, knowledge, and power. This is the presence of a cause in the things that share in God's goodness. By his essence, he is substantially in all things, including the created spiritual essences (angels, demons, human souls) as the immediate origin of their existence. by his knowledge, he exercises his wisdom directly in all creation down to the least details. By his power, he operates...

As you may know, the Catholic Faith was illegal in the Roman Empire prior to 313 AD, when the Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan permitting the Christian Faith to flourish publicly. Prior to that time, Church buildings as we know them today were rare—Mass was usually celebrated in houses.Now be careful here; these “houses” were usually rather sizable, with a central courtyard or large room that permitted something a little more formal than Mass “around the dining room table.” I remember being taught (incorrectly) that these early Masses were informal, emphasized a relaxed, communal quality, and were celebrated...

August 20, 2014Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church    Reading 1 Ez 34:1-11 The word of the Lord came to me:Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israelwho have been pasturing themselves!Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,and slaughtered the fatlings,but the sheep you have not pastured.You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sicknor bind up the injured.You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the...

There is a great deal of confusion in the Church today as to whether or not Muslims worship the same God as do we. In fact many prelates, including our own Cardinal McCarrick, either are honestly confused about the matter or they exploit general confusion so that they may appear to be "ecumenical". Indeed, nine years ago at Catholic University His Eminence addressed some Muslim dignitaries; in that address he invoked "allah" three times but he gave not one mention to Jesus Christ. That address, which can be called de facto idolatry, is here. Cardinal McCarrick and other devotees of...

The Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul has warned that Christians around the world would face suffering from Islamists as his diocese has, and decisions that challenge the underpinnings of Western political ideas. "Our sufferings today are the prelude of those you, Europeans and Western Christians, will also suffer in the near future," Archbishop Emil Nona told Italian daily Corriere della Sera Aug. 9 from Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Archbishop Nona has been forced from his home by the Islamic State, a caliphate recently established in Iraq and Syria. He is among five bishops who have been forced from Mosul....

Your Catholic Voice Foundation is continuing in its sincere and faithful mission to save and support Chaldean Catholics displaced by the Islamic State in northern Iraq. These amazing and resilient people belong to some of the oldest Christian communities and societies on the planet. This is literally true, their Christian communities easily date to the time of the earliest apostles. Despite their ancient, fruitful and peaceful presence - they have never fought wars against their neighbors - they have been systematically rooted out of their homes and forced to flee. Those who stayed behind have been killed in one of...