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It was no more than a minor blip on the ecclesiastical screen. So minor, in fact, that many Catholic news agencies didn't even pick it up. This past October, to very little fanfare, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in conjunction with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), announced the publication of a joint document titled "Declaration of the Way: Church, Ministry, and the Eucharist." Released in preparation for the five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017, the 118-page declaration was the result of a dialogue between members of ELCA and the U.S. bishops' Committee...

Order, Order! A Meditation on the Glory of Order in God's Creation Msgr. Charles Pope • January 25, 2016 • In a series of two posts I would like to ponder the glory of something we call order. I do this more in the form of a meditation than a treatise. Some may argue that I am oversimplifying complex philosophical concepts. That may be true, but I am a pastor not an academic. And though I summarize here, I do not think I have been inauthentic in setting forth the concepts and problems that have birthed the modern age....

You've probably heard the basic story by now: busses full of students heading home from the March for Life in Washington D.C. got stuck on a highway because of a blizzard, and while they were waiting they constructed an altar out of snow and held Mass on the side of the highway. Amazing! ChurchPOP tracked down the priest who presided over this historic Mass, Fr. Patrick Behm, and interviewed him about his experience. "It was incredible," Fr. Behm told ChurchPOP, "easily one of the highlights of my time as a priest." Fr. Behm is the parochial vicar of All Saints'...

The writings of Remi Brague, winner of the 2012 Ratzinger Prize, about Islam offer the sort of unflinching and detailed analysis often missing from papal utterancesI.Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Vatican II, states that the Mohammedans "profess their faith as the faith of Abraham, and with us they worship the one, merciful God who will judge men on the last day" (par 16). At first sight, that statement appears friendly and matter-of-fact: the "faith" of Muslims is evidently thought to be the same "with us". We "agree" about a last judgment and a merciful God who...

January 26, 2016 Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops Reading 1 2 Tm 1:1-8 Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of Godfor the promise of life in Christ Jesus,to Timothy, my dear child:grace, mercy, and peace from God the Fatherand Christ Jesus our Lord. I am grateful to God,whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day.I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears,so that I may be filled with joy, as I recall your sincere faiththat first lived in your grandmother...

Francis met with members of the Roman Rota on FridayPope Francis said there can be no confusion between God's plan for marriage as an indissoluble bond between one man and woman who are open to life, and other sorts of unions."The Church, in fact, can demonstrate God's unwavering merciful love toward families, especially those wounded by sin and life's trials, and at the same time proclaim the essential truth of marriage according to God's plan," the Pope said on Friday, in a meeting with members of the Roman Rota. Francis holds the annual meeting to inaugurate the Vatican court's judicial...

Celebrating an Apocalyptic Plague Pope Francis to Lead "Common worship service" to Commemorate 5th Centenary of Lutheran Revolt Note: It is now official what many of us expected. Pope Francis will participate in ceremony commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The January 25 Vatican Bollitano announces: "The Holy Father Francis in Lund, Sweden, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. His Holiness Francis intends to participate in a joint ceremony of the Catholic Church and the World Lutheran Federation to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, scheduled to take place in Lund, Sweden on Monday 31 October...

As we prepare for the remembrance of Our Blessed Lord's Passion and Death, there could hardly be a more insulting way to begin this, than with a major liturgical abuse. But unfortunately, such an abuse has become extremely common.

Defining Ministry or Muddling It? A Reflection on an Article "Assigned" to Me Msgr. Charles Pope -- January 24, 2016 -- Recently one of my readers sent me a collection of sayings or proverbs on the topic of ministry. The collection is entitled Defining Ministry. The reader, who apparently does not think I follow modern trends very well, scolded me for being out-of-touch and recommended that I review the list. That reader apparently believes that those "proverbs" describe what I should be like, but am not.I took my "assignment" seriously and read each one of the sayings. And I'm...

BAGHDAD - The international community is struggling to come up with a strategy to defeat the Islamic State (IS) - but on the ground in northern Iraq, a Roman Catholic priest has found his own way to fight the jihadists. Father Gabriel Tooma is not going after them with weapons. He is not involved with any of the several Christian militias that have taken it upon themselves, in Iraq and neighboring Syria, to defend their villages against IS onslaught. What he is doing, he says, is even more important to the Christian minority's fate in northern Iraq: He is rounding...

Francis will visit the city of Lund in October for a joint ecumenical commemoration to mark the anniversary of the start of the ReformationPope Francis will visit Sweden in October for a joint ecumenical commemoration of the start of the Reformation, it has been announced. Francis will be joined for the commemoration by leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and representatives of other Christian Churches on October 31 in the Swedish city of Lund, a press release, released today by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU) and the LWF, has confirmed. Pope Francis, LWF President Bishop Dr...

January 25, 2016 Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, Apostle Reading 1 Acts 22:3-16 Paul addressed the people in these words:"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,but brought up in this city.At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral lawand was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.I persecuted this Way to death,binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.Even the high priest and the whole council of elderscan testify on my behalf.For from them I even received letters to the brothersand set out for Damascus to...

He said it during the meeting with the pope at the synagogue. And it is the refusal to "discuss theology" with the Catholic Church. Because of Jewish fears of a blurring of that which distinguishes them from Christians? ROME, January 23, 2016 - In the Catholic camp almost no one made note of it. But in the Jewish camp they did. And it is that curt "no" which the chief rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, said to Pope Francis during his visit to the synagogue on Sunday, January 17: "We do not receive the pope in order to discuss...

Pope Francis centered his Angelus address this Sunday on what it means to evangelize the poor, and how this is the mission of the Church. "Evangelize the poor: this is the mission of Jesus; this is also the mission of the Church, and of all the baptized in the Church," the Pope said Jan. 24 to the crowds in Saint Peter's Square. "To be a Christian and to be a missionary is the same thing." "What does it mean to evangelize the poor? It means to be close to them, to serve them, to free them from oppression, and all...

There is a classic story about a samurai warrior who came to understand what real courage, integrity and humility were all about. The cruelest, most violent Samurai in Japan decides he wants to become enlightened. He bursts into the home of an esteemed Zen Master and demands that the Master teach him how to become enlightened. The Zen Master looks deeply into his eyes and says, "No. You are a dirty, vicious Samurai. I will not teach you."Enraged, the Samurai yanks out his sword and places it right at the Zen Master's neck. He hollers, "Do you have any...

* See above slide show of 22 photos sent to LifeSiteNews from pro-lifer marchers at the scene. Click on blue arrows to advance photos.* Update 9:10 p.m. Sat: This just now from Mandie DeVries who has two middle school girls and a four month old baby. She said baby is sleeping peacefully. Dubuque County RTL bus started moving at 7 pm. Iowans for LIFE bus about 40 min later. The backup was said then to be 32 miles long and some won't get out tonight. No idea about any of the many others PENNSYLVANIA TURNPIKE, January 23, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) –...

On The Wonder of the Word of God -- A Homily for the Third Sunday of the Year Msgr. Charles Pope- January 23, 2016 - The gospel for this Sunday is continued next week, so I will postpone the analysis of it until then. Instead, I will focus on the first reading, from Nehemiah 8. It is a wonderful meditation on the glory and wonder of the Word of God and it deserves our attention.The background of the text is that in 587 BC, Israel had been conquered by the Babylonians and the survivors of the war were led...

A post on Facebook describes the scene: Amazing site from Pennsylvania. Dowling Catholic [High School, in Iowa] students stuck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike meet kids on the bus from Missouri. They have a priest. And create a snow altar for mass in the middle of this stand still. Very proud of all you Dowling Catholic students.WBAY from Green Bay reports on another stranded band of marchers: A group of 150 people from the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, mostly students, is stranded in their buses by the East Coast blizzard.The group was in Washington, DC, for the "March for...

January 24, 2016 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Neh 8:2-4a, 5-6, 8-10 Ezra the priest brought the law before the assembly,which consisted of men, women,and those children old enough to understand.Standing at one end of the open place that was before the Water Gate,he read out of the book from daybreak till midday,in the presence of the men, the women,and those children old enough to understand;and all the people listened attentively to the book of the law.Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that had been made for the occasion.He opened the scrollso that all the...

The Stepinac Case "We are afraid that there are too many open questions and wounds which Cardinal Stepinac symbolizes. His canonization, to our great regret, would return the relations between Serbs and Croats, as well as between Catholics and Orthodox faithful, back to their tragic history... We ask you to remove the question of the canonization of Cardinal Stepinac from the agenda, and to leave it to the infallible judgment of God."--Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej, in a 2015 letter to Pope Francis "Both Catholic and Orthodox priests were persecuted under communism, and therefore the Catholic Church can consider Stepinac to...