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From a reader (who has sent queries before about a writing project): I’m sorry if I’m been annoying at all in the past. But I have another question this one is for a writing project that might never get off the ground, but in case it does. Could water that is extratrestrial in origin e.g from a comet or another planet be valid matter for baptism? I parried back: Water is water. H2O. Right? And I went about my day, self-assured in my concise response.The inquirer reposted: Yep, essentially. But there exist other types of water like D2O [which everyone...

Know whether the organization is spending your money in a way that lines up with your beliefs. Fausin Weber, left, and Deacon Brian Edwards of Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, Tenn., participate in the ALS ice bucket challenge on Aug. 22. CNS photo This summer, people from all over the country were dumping buckets of ice water on themselves to raise awareness and money for the ALS Association’s fight against Lou Gehrig’s disease. As the ice bucket challenge became both more widely known and wildly successful through social media, many pro-life advocates were morally conflicted because the...

ROME — Barbie has had a number of careers in her 55 years – flight attendant, veterinarian, astronaut, even president. Her latest role, however, is raising eyebrows. Italy’s Catholic bishops are furious about controversial artistic depictions of the popular Barbie and Ken dolls as the Virgin Mary and a crucified Jesus Christ and other saints. Two Argentinian artists, Marianela Perelli and Pool Paolini, produced 33 dolls of various religious figures for a show named “Barbie, The Plastic Religion,” which opens in Buenos Aires on Oct. 11. SIR, an Italian website backed by the Italian bishops conference, denounced the controversial toys...

What was once unthinkable for many loyal Catholics has now become a necessity: open, public opposition to the designs of a pope. That is because Pope Francis is pushing hard for “reforms” that constitute a positive threat to every Christian marriage. You, Mr. and Mrs. Catholic, need to take this direct attack very personally. If there were ever any doubt that Pope Francis himself is behind the push to undermine Catholic discipline on marriage and the sacraments, that doubt should be firmly dispelled by his actions of the past year. He called an Extraordinary Synod specifically for this purpose. He...

- Ethics and Public Policy Centre Eight years later, the Regensburg Lecture looks a lot different. Indeed, those who actually read it in 2006 understood that, far from making a “gaffe,” Benedict XVI was exploring with scholarly precision two key questions, the answers to which would profoundly influence the civil war raging within Islam—a war whose outcome will determine whether 21st-century Islam is safe for its own adherents and safe for the world.

Featured Term (selected at random:PROSPHORA Literally "offering" or oblation." This is the altar bread in the Greek or Byzantine Liturgy. It is commonly a round piece of leavened bread, stamped with one or more symbols, e.g., with a cross between the Greek Letters IC XC NI KA (Jesus Christ Conquers). prosphora is also the third part of the Eucharistic liturgy in the Byzantine Rite, corresponding to the Offertory of the Mass. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

1. The reasons pornography is not wrong. Pornography isn’t wrong because sex is bad or the body shameful. It's wrong because sex is good and the body magnificent! As Christians we must never forget whose idea sex was in the first place. It was not thought up by Hugh Hefner or by Cosmopolitan magazine but by God! In fact, God's very first commandment to humanity in the Bible is to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28)! And as philosopher Dr. Peter Kreeft noted, “I do not think he meant for us to grow oranges and invent calculators.” Pornography is wrong...

Dialoguers say the darndest things. The conclusion to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ document, Revelation: Catholic and Muslim Perspectives, contains the following: “Both Jesus and Muhammad loved and cared for all whom they met, especially the poor and oppressed.”

I received an email from Franklin Graham this morning saying that there is to be a prayer vigil at Lafayette Park on September 25 at 6:00 p.m. for Pastor Saeed. Please try to attend.

One of the critiques that many make of the Church is that we are sometimes known more for what we are against than what we are for. This critique, and fear, exists even in the Church. A similar critique is made of God’s law wherein some wonder, “Why are the Ten Commandments generally worded as negatives: ‘Thou Shalt not …’ ?”It is a fact that, at least in modern culture, many prefer to say what they are for rather than what they are against. Somehow, being “positive” is valued over being “negative.” Thus, even in the tragic conflict over abortion,...

“Sister Timothy, are you a nun?” Well, I do wear a long brown habit and I have professed three vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, in consecration to God forever. But am I a nun? My name is SISTER Timothy Marie. But am I a nun? Here is the answer. In a practical, everyday sense people have no hesitation about identifying me as a carmelitesheaderCatholic nun. Yet, in the technical sense of the real definition I am not. So, what am I? I have entered a consecrated life, and I am a woman religious. I am a sister. I’ll explain....

September 25, 2014Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Eccl 1:2-11 Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!What profit has man from all the laborwhich he toils at under the sun?One generation passes and another comes,but the world forever stays.The sun rises and the sun goes down;then it presses on to the place where it rises.Blowing now toward the south, then toward the north,the wind turns again and again, resuming its rounds.All rivers go to the sea,yet never does the sea become full.To the place where they go,the rivers keep on...

Editor's Note 09/24 5:23 p.m. EST: This story has been updated to include an interview with St. Victoria Parish Deacon Ray Ortman. Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis has supported the removal of a parish liturgist who recently contracted a same-sex “marriage.” The man, Jamie Moore, who had been Director of Liturgy and Music at St. Victoria Parish in Victoria, Minnesota, “married” his partner on the weekend of September 20. The archbishop says he was consulted on the decision but not directly involved, while the parish priest maintains it was Nienstedt’s decision and says the “beloved” employee will...

he virtue to which we are called with regard to sexual relationships is called chastity. Through integrity and self control, the chaste person observes the true meaning and intimacy of sexual relations. Pornography is gravely offensive to this. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains, "[pornography] perverts the conjugal act, the intimate giving of spouses to each other. It does grave injury to the dignity of its participants (actors, vendors, the public), since each one becomes an object of base pleasure and illicit profit for others. It immerses all who are involved in the illusion of a fantasy world" (CCC...

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has nominated new members of the International Theological Commission, in addition to renewing the five year mandate of several previously serving members. The following statement was issued by the Holy See Press Office: International Theological Commission - Press release 1. The conclusion of the eighth five-year term This year the eighth five-year term of the International Theological Commission, which began with the pontifical appointment of its Members in June 2009, will conclude. As is known, the International Theological Commission, instituted by the Servant of God Paul VI on 11 April 1969, has the task of assisting...

An artist's rendering of the renovation plan for the sanctuary of Christ Cathedral. Credit: Diocese of Orange. Orange, Calif., Sep 24, 2014 / 02:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Diocese of Orange announced Wednesday the new design plans for Christ Cathedral, saying they are intended to transform the former Crystal Cathedral into a space that is “liturgically and intrinsically Catholic.” “Through this innovative design process an insightful plan has emerged that will establish Christ Cathedral as a place for involvement in the sacraments, a place to hear the Word of God proclaimed and a place for personal prayer and devotion,” Bishop...

Now that he has been named archbishop of Chicago, many people have expressed interest in Bishop Blase Cupich’s time as bishop of the Diocese of Spokane. I should make clear that I barely know Bishop Cupich on a personal level. I am only a Catholic layman in the diocese of Spokane. I do, however, hold an endowed chair in “Christian Philosophy” at Gonzaga University, serve as academic advisor to Bishop White Seminary (an undergraduate college seminary at Gonzaga), and am a former director of Gonzaga’s small Catholic Studies Program. Gonzaga University is, primarily, a school of approximately 4800 undergraduates that...

Now that he has been named archbishop of Chicago, many people have expressed interest in Bishop Blase Cupich’s time as bishop of the Diocese of Spokane. I should make clear that I barely know Bishop Cupich on a personal level. I am only a Catholic layman in the diocese of Spokane. I do, however, hold an endowed chair in “Christian Philosophy” at Gonzaga University, serve as academic advisor to Bishop White Seminary (an undergraduate college seminary at Gonzaga), and am a former director of Gonzaga’s small Catholic Studies Program. Gonzaga University is, primarily, a school of approximately 4800 undergraduates that...

One of the wisest clerics in the traditional Catholic world, Father Claude Barthe, wrote a short note for the highly regarded French Catholic periodical L'Homme Nouveau on the Holy See communiqué on the meeting between Cardinal Müller and Bishop Fellay yesterday. He paid attention to the key words, as well as to words that are missing, and how they represent a high point in the evolution of relations between the Apostolic See and the Society of Saint Pius X. Father Barthe, by the way, is the main chaplain of the remarkable Populus Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage to Rome, taking place a...

Trumpets of Warning! — Part II  AFTER Mass this morning, my heart was burdened again with the grief of the Lord.  MY LOST SHEEP! Speaking about the shepherds of the Church last week, the Lord began to impress words on my heart, this time, about the sheep.To those who complain about the shepherds, hear this:  I have undertaken to feed the sheep myself. The Lord has left no stone unturned in order to find the lost sheep of his flock. Who can say that God has abandoned them who still has the breath of life in his lungs? The Lord, in...