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Vatican City, Jan 23, 2015 / 10:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Servant of God Aloysius Schwartz is one of the 11 causes for canonization that Pope Francis advanced yesterday, and will be granted the title “Venerable” with the pontiff’s recognition of his heroic virtue. Pope Francis approved the advancement of the causes for canonization during a private Jan. 22 audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In addition to Fr. Schwartz, six other Servants of God were recognized for heroic virtue, while three have been acknowledged as martyrs. The Pope also recognized a...

Notre Dame's acceptance of the same-sex marriage movement's rhetorical paradigm has made our nation's flagship Catholic institution impotent. Yet there is an opportunity for the Notre Dame community to model ways to promote the good amid the crumbling ruins of institutional integrity.When I entered the University of Notre Dame in August of 2010, same-sex marriage was an invisible issue. Three weeks ago, the university announced that it had decided to extend employment benefits to legally married same-sex couples. The university did so willingly and without coercion of civil law. Notre Dame's president has even hailed the decision as one that...

January 25, 2015Third Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Jon 3:1-5, 10 The word of the LORD came to Jonah, saying:“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,and announce to it the message that I will tell you.”So Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh,according to the LORD’S bidding.Now Nineveh was an enormously large city;it took three days to go through it.Jonah began his journey through the city,and had gone but a single day’s walk announcing,“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed, “when the people of Nineveh believed God;they proclaimed a fastand all of them, great and...

In investigating the validity of a marriage, ecclesial judges should consider whether the decision to marry was made in the context of values and faith ... Francis stressed “the crisis of values in society” is not a recent phenomenon, quoting Blessed Paul VI’s 1974 address opening the Rota’s judicial year, modern man “at times, wounded by a systematic relativism that bends to the easiest choices of circumstance, of demagogy, of fashion, of passion, of hedonism, of selfishness, so that externally he attempts to dispute the mastery of the law, and internally, almost without realizing, substitutes the empire of moral conscience...

In my new book, Behold Your Mother: A Biblical and Historical Defense of the Marian Doctrines, , I spend most of its pages in classic apologetic defense of Mary as Mother of God, defending her immaculate conception, perpetual virginity, assumption into heaven, her Queenship, and her role in GodÂ’s plan of salvation as Co-redemptrix and Mediatrix. But perhaps my most important contributions in the book may well be how I demonstrate each of these doctrines to be crucial for our spiritual lives and even our salvation.And I should note that this applies to all of the Marian doctrines. Not...

– Angela Marie via Flickr (CC BY 2.0) WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a petition from a Louisiana Catholic diocese that fears a civil lawsuit could force a priest to violate the seal of confession or go to jail. The Diocese of Baton Rouge and diocesan priest Father Jeff Bayhi were disappointed by the decision, which the diocese said has “significant ramifications for religious freedom in Louisiana and beyond.” “The diocese and Father Bayhi will continue their efforts to protect the guarantees of religious freedom set forth in our state and federal constitutions and are...

BRUSSELS, Belgium — A Belgian bishop has distanced himself from an award given by a gay rights group after he called on the Catholic Church to “respect” divorced people and homosexuals. Bishop Johan Bonny of the city of Antwerp said he wished to “preserve his independence” and did not need to be honored for a stance he considered part of his “mission and responsibility,” Belgian news agency Belga reported Sunday. Flemish gay rights umbrella group Cavaria had bestowed an award on Bonny over an open letter he published ahead of a major synod on family issues hosted by Pope Francis...

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — A Bay Area church is now under fire over a controversial new policy saying only boys can be altar servers. The new practice is making waves at the century old church Star of the Sea. Since the ’70s, they’ve used altar girls during masses. The well-known Richmond District church also has a school serving about 230 kids. When the new priest banned girls from being altar servers, it generated outrage among parents and parishioners alike. The priest admits some parishioners even left the church. “It’s disturbing,” said churchgoer Connie Porciuncula. Star of the Sea School...

Featured Term selected at random:EMMAUS A village about seven miles from Jerusalem. It was on the road to Emmaus that two disciples met the risen Jesus and accompanied him to the village (Luke 24:13-35). Not until he broke bread at supper did they recognize him. then he disappeared and they hastened back to Jerusalem to tell the Apostles of the encounter. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Fr. Mitch Pacwa holds this fascinating interview on his weekly "EWTN Live" show, with his special guest, former strident "Catholic-Basher" and Pentecostal ("Assembly of God") minister, "Tim Staples": EWTN LIVE - 2015.1.21 - Tim Staples.

January 24, 2015Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church    Reading 1 Heb 9:2-3, 11-14 A tabernacle was constructed, the outer one,in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of offering; this is called the Holy Place.Behind the second veil was the tabernacle called the Holy of Holies. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that have come to be, passing through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not belonging to this creation, he entered once for all into the sanctuary, not...

Unabridged title: "Kasperite Indoctrination for the Archdiocese of Chicago? Cupich on the 2014 Synod: "the media reported what actually took place"" Yesterday, Commonweal published a long interview (A Listening Church) with Archbishop Blaise Cupich, without doubt Pope Francis' most important appointment (so far) to the United States' episcopate. After reading this, there is only one thing we can say to our friends in Chicago: we will keep you in our prayers. Archbishop Cupich during the first Sunday Mass after his installation. Four of the most important passages in the interview ("GG" is the interviewer, Grant Gallicho, while "BC" is "Bishop...

In his trip to the Philippines, Pope Francis once again defended marriage, and he again edged closer to a firm, unequivocal papal statement against same-sex “marriage.” As Francis clearly continues to carefully move in that direction, liberals, both secular and non-secular, non-Catholic and Catholic, are going to feel a severe sense of betrayal and grave disappointment, contrary to the most optimistic expectations they’ve eagerly imposed upon their first “gay-marriage” pope.Before considering what Francis said last week, I want to back up and reiterate related points I made in a piece posted here a few weeks ago, which created a...

New Mexico’s three Roman Catholic bishops hope Republican control in the state House of Representatives will help them achieve a ban on late-term abortions that Albuquerque voters rejected in a 2013 city election. Allen Sánchez, executive director of the New Mexico Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the new Republican majority in the House provides the first “window of opportunity” in years to end late-term abortions in the state. “For years (Republicans) have made the claim that if they could take the House, they could get pro-life legislation on the governor’s desk,” Sánchez said. “We see pro-lifers, both Republicans and Democrats,...

The St. Mary and St. Joseph Family Memorial Foundation has purchased the Twin Spires in Downtown St. Joseph with plans to create a national pro-life shrine. When it opens this spring, the church will become the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the first national pro-life shrine in the country. It will serve as a location for prayer to end abortion, and for atonement for the babies and the conversion of their parents, the nonprofit said. “It was kind of miraculous. We were going to build a shrine,” said Richard Mahoney, president of the foundation. “I got a call from a...

Friday, January 23, 2015 Rabbits and NFP My wife and and I taught NFP for ten years. We heard all the jokes (i.e., half truths and outright lies) about NFP, typified by this perennial favorite: "What do you call couples who use NPF? 'Parents.'" We heard the continual disparagement about "breeding like rabbits." We had couples who walked out of our class after my presentation on the necessity of having "grave reason" for recourse to NFP. We also had couples who, after hearing the Church's teaching on the necessity of having "grave reason" for having recourse NFP, realized they had...

It is very important that the synod does not have the spirit of “all or nothing.” It is not a good way. The synod cannot have winners and losers. That is not the spirit of the synod. The spirit of the synod is to find a way together, not to say, “How can I find a way to bring my position through?” Rather: “How can I understand the other position, and how can we together find a new position?” That is the spirit of the synod.

I have been blessed with six children. Children I had by six C-sections. My C-sections were never because of convenience or fear of labor pains. Quite the contrary. I have always wanted to give birth naturally, but my firstborn went into fetal distress after 13 hours of labor. Meconium[1] and blood made his birth a medical emergency and the C-section inevitable to save his life. Thank God I gave birth in a time when the C-section is an option. Some decades before, and me and my boy would both be dead. Even though he had a very low initial APGAR[2],...

Featured Term selected at random:HISTORY OF DOGMA The systematic presentation of the history of divine revelation since it was completed at the end of the apostolic age to the present time. This history comprehends the Church's identification of what was revealed in Sacred Scripture and tradition; formulation of God's word in creeds, definitions, and doctrinal terms; interpretation of what was revealed; growth in understanding its meaning; and defense of revealed truth against the intrusion of heresy. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

A priest is suing a former colleague at a Florham Park retreat, accusing him of thefts and of making a false criminal allegation. In a lawsuit made public Wednesday in Superior Court in Morristown, the Rev. Frank Hreno accused the Rev. Emeka Okwuosa of spitting in his face; pinning him against the wall; taking Hreno's checkbook and writing checks to himself; damaging cars Hreno was authorized to use; taking Hreno's van without authorization and using Hreno's credit card without authorization. Florham Park Police say Hreno attacked Okwuosa with a four-foot crucifix that he swung through a glass door. Both priests...