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Munich, Germany, Aug 18, 2016 / 03:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Never before have so few Catholic priests been ordained in the Church in Germany: a total of 58 men joined the clergy in 2015, according to official figures published by the German Episcopal Conference this week. Within the last decade, the number of ordinations has dropped by half. In 2005, a total of 122 diocesan priests were ordained. Five decades ago, in 1965, the number was 500. While there were almost 20,000 Catholic priests in Germany in 1990, today their number has already dropped to 14,000. The drastic decline is...

In concentration camps, diabolical methods of torture abound. Besides the various forms of physical abuse, prisoners are also subjected to harrowing psychological pressures. Imagine that after a week of torture, a languishing victim receives a visit from a physician. After checking him over, the doctor declares the poor captive to be in excellent health, well-nourished, possessing the energy levels and fitness of a youth! What would the prisoner think of this diagnosis? Surely that it was another act of psychological torture perpetrated by his captors…perhaps to make him continue with his ‘labor’. Clearly, such a doctor could only be considered...

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) – Here at AsiaNews we have received and gladly publish this urgent appeal from a priest in South China. Frequent appeals for help are arriving from the underground Catholic Chinese clergy, this year. They find themselves in a very difficult and serious dilemma: they are being forced to register by accepting the Catholic Patriotic Association with its three autonomy principles. But, it seems that nobody cares for them. The public attention of all Catholics concerned with the Church in China is drawn elsewhere: it is focused upon the possible results of the ongoing negotiations between the Holy...

DAY 4 – MOTHER OF CHRIST, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE VIRTUE OF LOVE! GOD’S WORD “Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” (John 15:9-10) HEROES’ WORDS “Love to be real, it must cost — it must hurt — it must empty us of self.” -Mother Teresa “To love God is something greater than to know him.” -St. Thomas Aquinas “It is not hard to obey when we love the one whom we obey.” -St. Ignatius of Loyola MEDITATION Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things...

A Warning from the Lord to Priests and a Request for Prayers Msgr. Charles Pope • August 17, 2016 • The first reading from today (Wednesday of the 20th week of the year) is a significant admonition for priests. In this post, permit this priest to wonder how this warning from the Lord might apply to priests and shepherds today.You who read these wonderings: please pray for priests, because we who have received much will also have much for which to account.The passage from Ezekiel 34 is in bold, blue italics; my reflections are in bold, black text.The word...

August 18, 2016 Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ez 36:23-28 Thus says the LORD:I will prove the holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations, in whose midst you have profaned it.Thus the nations shall know that I am the LORD, says the Lord GOD,when in their sight I prove my holiness through you.For I will take you away from among the nations,gather you from all the foreign lands,and bring you back to your own land.I will sprinkle clean water upon youto cleanse you from all your impurities,and from all your idols I...

Bloomsbury announces November publication of English versionPope Emeritus Benedict XVI has a new book coming out next month, and it’s just been announced that the title of the English version will be Last Testament: In His Own Words. Bloomsbury announced the publication of the 224-page hardcover book on its website: Last Testament is nearest to an autobiography from the shy and private man who has remained “hidden to the world” in a former convent in the Vatican gardens. He breaks his silence on issues such as: – The “Vatileaks” case in which his butler leaked some of his personal letters...

Vatican expert Dr. Sandro Magister revealed yesterday – a day before the announcement was officially made – the troubling news that Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia has been chosen by Pope Francis to be the new head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, as well as of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Paglia is already the head of the Pontifical Council for the Family. With this decision, Pope Francis makes another move in order to strengthen the progressive direction of his papal teaching concerning moral matters. Paglia is known to be a strong supporter of...

Summoned, Sure, and Strong: Proverbs for Pro-Lifers Msgr. Charles Pope • August 16, 2016 • By way of spiritually preparing for a pro-life project here in my parish and deanery, I asked the Lord to show me any biblical text He wanted me to see. I randomly opened the Bible and my eyes fell on Proverbs 24, which has some very good material for reflection for any and all engaged in pro-life witness.Consider some lessons drawn from the 24th chapter of the Book of Proverbs: OUR SUMMONS – If you remain indifferent in times of adversity, your strength will...

DAY 3 – HOLY VIRGIN OF VIRGINS, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE VIRTUE OF HOPE! GOD’S WORD “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (v 10:23) HEROES’ WORDS “Pray, hope, and don’t worry.” -St. Pio of Pietrelcina MEDITATION Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ’s promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit (CCC 1817). The virtue of hope responds to the...

August 17, 2016 Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ez 34:1-11 The word of the Lord came to me:Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,in these words prophesy to them to the shepherds:Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the shepherds of Israelwho have been pasturing themselves!Should not shepherds, rather, pasture sheep?You have fed off their milk, worn their wool,and slaughtered the fatlings,but the sheep you have not pastured.You did not strengthen the weak nor heal the sicknor bind up the injured.You did not bring back the strayed nor seek the lost,but you...

 On the evening of Sunday, August 14, 2016, famed Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won gold in a characteristically dynamic and seemingly effortless 100-meter performance at his third consecutive Olympics, this time in Rio de Janeiro, making him the first athlete to win three consecutive Olympic gold medals in the 100-meter dash.Bolt’s rocketry on this celebrated night follows equally impressive performances in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. There is little doubt as to why Bolt is easily regarded as the world’s fastest man.However, perhaps not as readily in the spotlight is notice of Bolt’s deep Catholic faith. In...

Pope Francis is decrying "ideological colonization" of gender ideology. In an interview conducted in late July, published Thursday by the Vatican, the Pope slammed the indoctrination of children by educational institutions. "In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa, and in some countries of Asia, there are genuine forms of ideological colonization taking place," the pontiff claimed, responding to a question from Bp. Christopher Zadarko of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg. And one of these — I will call it clearly by its name — is [the ideology of] 'gender.' Today children — children! — are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her...

Noted theologian Monsignor Nicola Bux strongly criticizes decision to allow readings from the Quran and participation by Muslim imams in liturgies held in several Italian cities. Rome, Italy, Aug 9, 2016 | Among the thousands of people in Rouen cathedral on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016, for the funeral of Father Jacques Hamel, the French priest who was stabbed to death in his church by an Islamist terrorist, were also Muslims and Jews, in a show of solidarity similar to that of interfaith services that took place Sunday, August 31st, in France and Italy. The presence of Muslim delegations at Sunday’s...

The Pope has issued a strange apology: Last Friday, when Francis visited a Rome center for women rescued from prostitution rackets, he delivered an apology for one of these issues through both deeds and words, asking forgiveness from the women there, in the name of Christianity, for the suffering they’ve endured. Although the Vatican didn’t give much information regarding the visit – it usually never does, when these encounters are considered private – Italian Father Aldo Bonaiuto, spiritual director of the Pope John XXIII Community Francis visited, spoke to Vatican Radio about it. “[Francis] used very beautiful, yet very strong...

The Apostles’ Creed (updated version): I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins, and the peaceful nature of Islam. Amen. Or, anyway, that’s how it ought to read according to Monsignor Stuart Swetland, President of Donnelly College in Kansas City. No, Msgr. Swetland didn’t actually propose a revision to the Apostles’ Creed, but he does seem to be saying that Catholics have a religious obligation to affirm that Islam is a religion of peace. In a long statement following up on a radio debate with Robert Spencer on Relevant Radio’s...

Since the beginning of this year, I have been sharing with you the growing concerns of Cardinal Zen of Hong Kong as regards the Vatican’s increasingly conciliatory stance with the Chinese government, which controls the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, an ersatz replacement for the true Chinese Catholic Church, which has been forced underground, and is regularly persecuted. In January, Cardinal Zen warned about a new “formula” allegedly under discussion at the time for the appointment of new Chinese bishops: A recent article “A winter of darkness for religions in China” by Bernardo Cervellera on AsiaNews, says: “From information that has...

DAY 2 – HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE VIRTUE OF FAITH! GOD’S WORD “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) HEROES’ WORDS “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” -Attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas MEDITATION The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to...

The Blessing of Pilgrimage – A Journey in Faith! Msgr. Charles Pope • August 15, 2016 • This coming March (19th – 30th), Patrick Coffin (of Catholic Answers) and I will lead a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. You are invited to come! Details are available here: Catholic Holy Land Pilgrimage.As I prepare for that trip I recall that one of the greatest moments in my entire life, and certainly in my life as a priest, was celebrating Holy Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, at the Latin altar on Golgotha, the very site of the crucifixion....

August 16, 2016 Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ez 28:1-10 The word of the LORD came to me: Son of man,say to the prince of Tyre: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because you are haughty of heart,you say, “A god am I!I occupy a godly thronein the heart of the sea!”—And yet you are a man, and not a god,however you may think yourself like a god.Oh yes, you are wiser than Daniel,there is no secret that is beyond you.By your wisdom and your intelligenceyou have made riches for yourself;You have put gold and...