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It is the same with Lutherans and Anglicans. They might have a high liturgy and a more sacramental view of the Lord’s presence than a Baptist, but the 39 Articles of Religion–the Anglican statement of belief (which has never been scrapped) specifically denies transubstantiation. The Lutheran Formula of Concord also denies transubstantiation. The Lutherans and Anglicans believe “The Lord is present” but not as Catholics do, and although individual Lutherans and Anglicans may have a Catholic understanding we can’t decide policy and behaviors according to each individual’s theological opinion. It is very nice of the Holy Father to be kind...

The United States Embassy in Italy has issued a security alert to all Americans abroad, warning them to avoid locations that have been identified as potential targets for terrorist attacks. At the top of the short list is “St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City (Rome).”The November 18 notice is billed as a “Security Message for U.S. Citizens” regarding a potential for terrorist attacks, and arrived punctually into the email boxes of all Americans registered with the embassy, including that of Breitbart News.Along with the Vatican, the State Department singles out the Duomo (cathedral) and La Scala opera house in Milan....

Pondering Pride, the Most Perilous of All Sins Msgr. Charles Pope • November 18, 2015 • Pride is a sin that is so pervasive, and that runs so deep within us, we often don't even sense it is there. Not only is it is a sinful drive in itself, it also plays a role in every other sin we commit. It is the sin we most share with Satan and all the fallen angels. Satan refused to serve God or to submit to His plan, and these are strong tendencies in every human person as well. Satan planned his strategy...

November 19, 2015 Thursday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Mc 2:15-29 The officers of the king in charge of enforcing the apostasycame to the city of Modein to organize the sacrifices.Many of Israel joined them,but Mattathias and his sons gathered in a group apart.Then the officers of the king addressed Mattathias:"You are a leader, an honorable and great man in this city,supported by sons and kin.Come now, be the first to obey the king's command,as all the Gentiles and the men of Judahand those who are left in Jerusalem have done.Then you and your...

This is what African cardinal Robert Sarah maintains in his book "God or Nothing" and in the discussion that has followed. An exclusive preview of his remarks in the next issue of "L'Homme Nouveau" ROME, November 19, 2015 - In the four jam-packed pages of the dossier that the French Catholic magazine "L'Homme Nouveau" is about to publish in its next issue, the word "synod" does not occur even once. Much less does one find cited there the "Relatio finalis" that the synod fathers have delivered to the pope. And yet the topics addressed in the dossier include the most...

Very soon Pope Francis will be in Africa, visiting Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic. This will be the first time Pope Francis has ever been to the continent, and it may well be a game-changer – not for Africa, but for him.

Terrorist acts of great gravity have been inflicted upon our country. Hundreds of people were killed, injured or traumatized, and we pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in this tragedy, and we pledge our prayers for their families and loved ones in mourning, and for the injured victims, that they may regain their health quickly. Such an attack certainly warrants a prompt response from French political and military authorities. But will this be sufficient to restore order, peace and security in France? We insist that it will not. Indeed, Pope Pius XI in his...

This post is the sixth in a series on the most prevalent modern myths about the Crusades and how to refute them.The world reacted in horror at the despicable and evil Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.  It is natural, in the face of such evil, to ask why. Why did these attacks occur? Why are some Muslims drawn to groups like ISIS, and why are they willing to kill innocent people in the name of religion? Many believe  economics, Western foreign policy, or religion is to blame. Some believe that history—or, more specifically, certain historical actions—provide the answer. ISIS,...

Your substantiality will always be found in me for I will part the waters for you in all you come against! So never let something appear as impossible but "speak grace to your mountains" proudly for as My Blood was shed for you it is I that Rend the Heavens to aid you with My healing Balm of Grace. (( ( Declare ) )) My Children everything "into substance and Being" for I AM your Sword as you speak your needs into LIFE! Step up from faith into the "KNOWING" you CAN Trust , Lean on and Rest in the...

VATICAN CITY — In preparation for the opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy on December 8, the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica has been freed of the brick wall that has hidden it since the Holy Year of 2000.The Recognitio ceremony took place on Tuesday evening and was led by the Basilica’s cardinal archpriest, Angelo Comastri.Following a procession and short prayer service, workers began carefully removing the wall, extracting a small metal box that conserved mementos from the Great Jubilee of the year 2000.The zinc box contained several documents certifying the closure of the Holy Door at the end of the last Holy Year....

In a comment elsewhere, someone wondered about differences between Catholics and Lutherans.  HEREI cannot go into deep detail about these differences.  Books can be written about each point, and have been.Here are my lunch break reflections while the US Bishops are having lunch during their annual meeting.Keep in mind that I am a former Lutheran convert to the Catholic Church.  I was validly baptized as a Lutheran.  I rejected the Lutheran catechism and instruction when I was 7 years old because I couldn’t square their message about corruption with the beauty of the music of Mozart.  After a vaguely Christian time and a...

I am not posting the image. Someone else will I'm sure.

Drones are to be banned from the airspace over the centre of Rome, during the Year of Mercy as a precaution against ISIS attacks. In the wake of the Paris attacks, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Monday that drones will be banned from the airspace from December 8, as the Year of Mercy is due to attract millions of tourists to the Italian capital.Addressing the Italian Parliament, Mr Alfano said that security would be tightened around any potential target, particularly around St Peter’s Square, he said: “Particular attention has been dedicated to the risk of an attack...

A Word of Encouragement in One of Jesus’ Stranger Sayings Msgr. Charles Pope • November 17, 2015 • It is one of the stranger dialogs that occurs in the Gospel, and it is hard not to rejoice in Jesus’ aplomb. We read it last week in daily Mass.In it, some Pharisees, likely disingenuous, approach Jesus, warning Him to leave immediately: Go away, leave this area because Herod wants to kill you. Probably more for their ears than Herod's, Jesus responds,"Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third...

Mercy featured prominently in the polemics surrounding the recently concluded Synod on the Family. Mercy was frequently counterpoised to dogma as an appeal to dilute ecclesiastical practice and admit to Holy Communion those who were now “remarried.” Cardinal Kasper went so far as to publish a book between the 2014 and 2015 Synod sessions, Mercy: The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life (New York: Paulist, 2014).One might walk away from these events with the impression that, suddenly, the Church had discovered its vocation to mercy and was now busy making up for lost time when it...

November 18, 2015 Wednesday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 2 Mc 7:1, 20-31 It happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrestedand tortured with whips and scourges by the king,to force them to eat pork in violation of God's law. Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother,who saw her seven sons perish in a single day,yet bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord.Filled with a noble spirit that stirred her womanly heart with manly courage,she exhorted each of themin the language of their ancestors with these words:“I do not...

In the address of Pope Francis to participants at the national ecclesial conference of last November 10, in the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, we find three features of his communication strategy: the theological-spiritual, the intra-ecclesiastical, and the explicit, prescriptive pastoral focus. The pope duly covered all three, amid repeated applause, interesting for its different intensity depending on the different tone and content of the talk. I will permit myself to observe, because it is not extraneous to what I will say, that the pope could have avoided rather than invited the applause, which in its way...

We had a wonderful weekend with Cardinal Burke. I don't have time to blog about it now, and I won't have time tomorrow, but I will do so thereafter. As well as liturgies and public speaking, His Eminence granted an interview with Mass of Ages, the LMS Magazine. As a tiny taster, when asked what Catholics should do when confronted with bad teaching, he said: I think Catholics should simply say that "I cannot accept this teaching as it goes against what the Church has always taught and practiced." I don't think that Catholics should permit themselves to be driven...

Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia is debunking the notion that it's somehow merciful to leave civilly remarried divorcees in ignorance and sin. In Chaput's recent essay for the journal First Things, he denies that the proposal to give unrepentant adulterers Holy Communion is merciful, saying, Ironically, a pastoral strategy that minimizes sin in the name of mercy cannot be merciful, because it's dishonest. ... Nor does God's mercy license us to continue in sin. ... A sincere movement toward God always entails a movement away from sin and error. The archbishop affirms the Church always welcomes the divorced and civilly remarried, clarifying,...

Georgetown University has announced it will rename two buildings which were named for former presidents with ties to slavery. No word yet on the Jesuit university recanting all the honors it has bestowed on pro-abortion politicians. Now, according to the Washington Post, the Jesuits owned slaves and sold them to pay off debt? Wow. I'd never heard that. That's a pretty large and glaring gap in Matt's historical knowledge right there. Kind of embarrassing, huh? So that's clearly a bad thing the Jesuits did. But it seems to me that it's kinda' interesting the timing of G'town's decision to rename...