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In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis wants the faithful to recognize God’s mercy toward each individual soul, and then in turn to show increased mercy toward one another. In his bull proclaiming the Jubilee, our Holy Father affirms “we are called to show mercy because mercy has first been shown to us. Pardoning offences becomes the clearest expression of merciful love, and for us Christians it is an imperative from which we cannot excuse ourselves.” Mercy can, however, seem rather abstract to us; the imagination may need some prodding. Few books provide a better depiction of mercy...

April 27, 2016 Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 15:1-6 Some who had come down from Judea were instructing the brothers,“Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice,you cannot be saved.”Because there arose no little dissension and debateby Paul and Barnabas with them,it was decided that Paul, Barnabas, and some of the othersshould go up to Jerusalem to the Apostles and presbytersabout this question. They were sent on their journey by the Church,and passed through Phoenicia and Samariatelling of the conversion of the Gentiles,and brought great joy to all the brethren.When they arrived in...

The liberal media are so in love with Pope Francis that they can't report the hard truth about his blatant interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and what it represents. Not only was socialist Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) invited to a conference of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (PASS) on Catholic social teaching and the world situation, he also met personally with Pope Francis. A secular Jewish atheist, Sanders is not even a member of the Catholic Church. "I am not actively involved with organized religion," Sanders has said. His brother Larry says, "He is quite substantially not religious."...

Fr. Christopher Phillips will be celebrating a Month’s Mind Mass for the repose of the soul of Mother Angelica on the one month anniversary of her death. We hope you will join us in thanking God for her incredible life, and praying for the blessed repose of her soul.

Many foresee a shadow though they look dimly through the veil, But what I AM doing and whom I have chosen I am yet to unveil, For few have truly ventured to enter in, They look for their own satisfaction and invite sin, I AM The One to lift up and remove and set down! I alone wear The Crown! A true upset is coming but to me is no surprise, So few come and enter in so I can open their eyes, For what comes next is a step of Prophecy, The next president is not chosen by men...

The following was written by His Excellency Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan. This is the official response to Amoris Laetitia from the good bishop. He wishes this to be read by all so please repost and forward far and wide. "Amoris laetitia": a need for clarification in order to avoid a general confusion The paradox of the contradictory interpretations of "Amoris laetitia" The recently published Apostolic Exhortation “Amoris laetitia” (AL), which contains a plethora of spiritual and pastoral riches with regard to life within marriage and the Christian family in our times,...

What Will Our Resurrected Bodies Be Like? Msgr. Charles Pope • April 25, 2016 • When I gave a talk recently at the Institute of Catholic Culture on the subject of the Second Coming, I was I asked to describe what our resurrected bodies will be like. Here is an article I wrote a few years back that details some aspects of our resurrected bodies:St Paul writes to the Philippians of the glory that our currently lowly bodies will one day enjoy:He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body by the power that enables him...

Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Rhode Island has a message for Catholic voters: never ever vote for any candidate who supports abortion. With Hillary Clinton as the likely presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, Bishop Tobin’s words make it clear that Catholic voters can’t vote for her for president. Bishop Tobin made the remarks in an April 21 post on Facebook: Catholics: Vote Pro-Life As the primary election draws near in Rhode Island, I encourage faithful Catholics to vote pro-life – and never to vote for any candidate, of any party, who supports abortion. And don’t be fooled by those...

There is a common misperception among Orthodox Christians that the reason why Orthodox Easter (i.e. Pascha) often occurs so much later than Western Christian Easter is because the Orthodox Church abides by the rules for calculating the date of Pascha issued by the 1st Ecumenical Council at Nicaea in 325 AD and thus the Orthodox must wait for Passover to be celebrated by the Jewish community before Pascha can occur. Despite this view being held by so many Orthodox Christians as well as being promoted in popular essays written by some Orthodox priests, it is not accurate. The reason why...

Cardinal Peter Turkson has called for a 'broad and deeply felt' debate on just war theoryCardinal Peter Turkson, the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, has called for a “broad and deeply felt” debate on the question of just war theory and said a papal encyclical on the issue was possible. He also said that proposals to drop the concept of just war were “legitimate”. Cardinal Turkson spoke to the Sunday Times after a conference sponsored by Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace movement, and the Vatican’s justice and peace office, earlier this month. At the conclusion...

While I was the publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine, I chronicled the plight of the Albany Diocese in Upstate, NY under the former leadership of now Bishop Emeritus Howard J. Hubbard. His stewardship of the diocese was a test case in the failures of the progressive policies of many churchmen during the seventies and eighties that left dioceses throughout the country beset by dwindling Mass attendance, little or no vocations to the priestly and religious life and sex scandals which metastasized into a full blown scandal in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. Things were so awful under Hubbard...

April 26, 2016 Tuesday of Fifth Week of Easter Reading 1 Acts 14:19-28 In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconiumarrived and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,supposing that he was dead.But when the disciples gathered around him,he got up and entered the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. After they had proclaimed the good news to that cityand made a considerable number of disciples,they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.They strengthened the spirits of the disciplesand exhorted them to persevere in...

We all have been waiting for it for quite some time now. Finally, a prelate has spoken. On the topic of the apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan, has given a statement of over 6,000 words to the Italian website Corrispondenza Romana, which was published yesterday, 24 April. (No English translation has yet been made available; all of the following excerpts are taken from our own partial translation.) While Schneider says that different interpretations of Amoris Laetitia now are now spreading, he sees that “Some of the statements of Amoris Laetitia are objectively liable to misinterpretation.”...

Michael Voris makes it known that he was a homosexual and wishes that he had said so earlier.

A Model of Manhood – A Reflection on a Text from St. Paul to Timothy Msgr. Charles Pope • April 24, 2016 • This post is based on a talk I gave to a group of men in Scranton, PA. I preached out of a text from St. Paul to Timothy, whom St. Paul considered a son in the faith:But as for you, O man of God … Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the...

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has made a surprise visit to one of Rome's main parks to participate in an Earth Day event. Francis, who wrote an encyclical decrying the exploitation of the Earth's environment and resources often at the expense of the poor, went to Villa Borghese, a park filled with Sunday strollers.

April 25, 2016 Feast of Saint Mark, Evangelist Reading 1 1 Pt 5:5b-14 Beloved: Clothe yourselves with humilityin your dealings with one another, for: God opposes the proudbut bestows favor on the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,that he may exalt you in due time.Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you. Be sober and vigilant.Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lionlooking for someone to devour.Resist him, steadfast in faith,knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the worldundergo the same sufferings.The God of all gracewho called you to...

His thesis on the synod of the family is perfect in every way - except the vital topic of communion for divorced and remmarieds Still they argue, argue, argue. Yes he did; no he didn't. He can; he can't. What exactly did Pope Francis intend to convey by chapter eight of his apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia? Conservatives say Pope Francis cannot have meant that "divorced and remarried Catholics could be admitted to Holy Communion in certain circumstances", as many have interpreted the document, because that would be plain contrary to long-standing Catholic practice sanctioned by the magisterium.But that would have...

At The Catholic Thing Fr. Jerry Pokorsky has a good piece about being non-judgmental, particularly about non-judgmental priests.  I think we have all met that sort, right?  These pathetic, flexi-spined cowards who would be, were Dante in charge, consigned to chase the pointless ever-whirling banner on the empty plain, pursued by stinging flies, treading upon hideous worms.Two snips: Non-Judgmental Shepherds[…]Someone recently told me about a Catholic religion teacher who was called by a concerned parent. The teacher was presenting the Catholic faith in a methodical fashion. An upcoming topic was to be love and marriage. The parent wanted assurances that his...

On 22 April, Cardinal Walter Kasper gave yet another interview about Pope Francis and his reforms. This time, he spoke with the German regional newspaper Aachener Zeitung. In this interview, the German cardinal made some candid — indeed, bold — statements which are very important in the context of the current situation of the Catholic Church. Kasper speaks about the further Church-reform plans of Pope Francis and his intention “not to preserve everything as it has been of old.” With Pope Francis, “things are not any more so abstract and permeated with suspicion, as it was the case in earlier...