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NEW YORK, September 25 (C-Fam) World leaders broke out into applause 27 times during the Pope’s address to the UN General Assembly today, including when he called for the defense of the “right to life,” and called the family the “primary cell of any social development.” Pro-life and pro-family advocates welcomed the speech as an improvement upon the more subtle references to their causes during the Pope’s address to the U.S. Congress. Culture of Life President Robert Royal called the UN talk a powerful and explicit defense of human life and natural marriage even though the words “abortion” and “homosexuality”...

"STUNNING ADMISSION: Hyper-Progressive Cardinal Danneels Admits Being in Mafia Dedicated to Unseat PBXVI" Pride goeth before the fall. The modernists are apparently feeling very powerful and secure, because they are starting to open their mouths and crow about both their opposition to Pope Benedict XVI, dropping hints they played a role in his abdication, as well as quite possibly illicitly organizing to elect Pope Francis. Further serious concerns are being raised about Cardinal Godfried Danneels, one of the papal delegates chosen to attend the upcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family, after the archbishop emeritus of Brussels confessed this week to...

Socialist Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is ecstatic over the pope’s address to Congress. In a message to his supporters, titled, “Why we must listen to Pope Francis,” he was particularly pleased with the fact that in his address to Congress, “Pope Francis spoke of Dorothy Day, who was a tireless advocate for the impoverished and working people in America. I think it was extraordinary that he cited her as one of the most important people in recent American history.” Day was a Marxist apologist for socialism and communist regimes. We covered this territory in my column, “With Pope’s Help, U.N....

Of Pictures and the Pope – A Humorous Look at Our Growing Need for Photographs Msgr. Charles Pope • September 24, 2015 • In all the coverage of Pope Francis’ visit to Washington, many are doing an admirable job of analyzing what is being said and done. The nature of this blog is less the coverage of “happening now” news and more a steady pondering of the message of the Gospel and how it relates to our cultural setting.Permit, therefore, a brief observation of the papal visit from the standpoint of the crowds that flock to see him. Please do...

September 25, 2015   Friday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Hg 2:1-9 In the second year of King Darius,on the twenty-first day of the seventh month,the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:Tell this to the governor of Judah,Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak,and to the remnant of the people: Who is left among youthat saw this house in its former glory?And how do you see it now?Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes?But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD,and take courage, Joshua, high...

DAY 1: It all starts today! September 23, 2015 Today is the first day of the 17th coordinated international 40 Days for Life campaign … as 40 days of prayer and fasting … peaceful vigil … and community outreach begins in 307 locations.Find the nearest one and get involved!If it’s the first time you’re joining us, welcome! Here’s what you can expect: God using the 40-day time period to bring about transformation in you and your communityDaily campaign updates showing you how God is at work … including babies saved from abortion, workers experiencing a change of heart and many...

If You Don’t Know the Bad News, the Good News is No News – A Meditation on the Coming Year of Mercy Msgr. Charles Pope • September 23, 2015 • As we prepare for the “Year of Mercy” we need to continue to understand that mercy is very good news. However, there is an old saying, “If you don’t know the bad news, the good news is no news.”Sadly, many people today understand mercy in a very detached way, a way that is apart from repentance and a deep knowledge of our sinfulness. Too many people think that mercy means...

He may be the world’s foremost Catholic, but to his fans, Pope Francis is more the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than Pope Benedict XVI. He speaks, and millions listen — whether they are Muslim or Baptist, Hindu or atheist.

September 24, 2015   Thursday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Hg 1:1-8 On the first day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius,The word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggaito the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel,and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak: Thus says the LORD of hosts: This people says:“The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.”(Then this word of the LORD came through Haggai, the prophet:)Is it time for you to dwell in your own paneled houses,while this...

NEW YORK -- Pope Francis praised American bishops Wednesday for their "generous commitment'" to helping victims of clergy sex abuse, drawing an angry rebuke from advocates who said the bishops acted only under the threat of hundreds of lawsuits. Addressing church leaders in a prayer service at the Washington cathedral, Francis said they had faced the crisis "without fear of self-criticism and at the cost of mortification and great sacrifice."

Msgr. Charles Pope • September 22, 2015 • Today we welcome Pope Francis to the United States. In so doing, we welcome more than just a popular public figure. We welcome someone whom the Lord prays for in a very special manner. Simon Peter and his successors enjoy a special charism to unite us, by the Lord’s prayer and grace. Let’s look at the scriptural foundation of this prayer and charism and see how essential the office of the pope is for us.One day, near the final ascent to Jerusalem, the Lord warned of a fundamental problem that the Church...

The lesbian teacher fired from a Philadelphia-area Catholic school after complaints over her homosexual “marriage” has been invited to the White House to attend the welcoming ceremony for Pope Francis. [Snip] The women, who were already planning to attend papal events in Washington D.C. and the World Meeting of Families, were reportedly “giddy” about the news of their invitation. "Obviously we won't be talking to the pope, but we will be in the vicinity," Winters said of the White House event. "But symbolically, it's a great step forward."

Pope Francis today suggested to reporters during an airborne press conference that he is not a left-winger. “Some people might say some things [I said] sounded slightly more leftish, but that would be a mistake of interpretation,” the Pope said to journalists, according to Time.

September 23, 2015 Memorial of Saint Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest Reading 1 Ezr 9:5-9 At the time of the evening sacrifice, I, Ezra, rose in my wretchedness,and with cloak and mantle torn I fell on my knees,stretching out my hands to the LORD, my God. I said: “My God, I am too ashamed and confounded to raise my face to you,O my God, for our wicked deeds are heaped up above our headsand our guilt reaches up to heaven.From the time of our fathers even to this daygreat has been our guilt,and for our wicked deeds we have been...

Church officials say that Pope Francis is likely to meet with victims of sexual abuse by priests when he comes to America this week — a sign of continuing turmoil and mistrust among Catholic parishioners following a series of scandals. And when critics call for more transparency and accountability, it’s Cardinal Bernard Law they often point to. Law was forced to resign as bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston after a series of stories by a team of investigative reporters at The Boston Globe found victims and uncovered documents showing that church authorities had protected pedophile priests from prosecution —...

The New York Times' Jennifer Steinhauer celebrated the faith of the fiercely pro-abortion former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California on Wednesday, under a laugher of a headline, "At Divisive Moment, Pelosi’s Faith Coexists With Belief in Abortion Rights." The online headline was even "stronger" in silliness: "In Pelosi, Strong Catholic Faith and Abortion Rights Coexist." Steinhauer strove mightily to portray left-wing pro-choice, pro-gay marriage Pelosi as an unconflicted Catholic, despite her position on abortion, considered a mortal sin by the Church but which Pelosi sees as "ancillary to her unwavering faith," according to the Times. Steinhauer portrayed the abortion...

Please excuse the provocative title, and do not misunderstand. Obviously, neither the Pope nor anyone else can change Church doctrine normatively. That is, Church doctrine remains true and unchangeable whatever people--without or within the Church--believe or say. In the same way the teachings of Christ or the Commandments themselves remain true and unchanging. What the Pope can do, however, is to say that Church doctrine has changed or, more to the point, imply by his words or actions that it has. Or he can say or imply that Church doctrine wasn't what most people--including most people in the Church itself...

A Study in Contrast and Paradox: The Pope’s Thursday Schedule Msgr. Charles Pope • September 21, 2015 • 0 Comments CREDIT: Jaclyn Lippelmann, The Catholic StandardOn Thursday morning, Pope Francis will speak at a joint session of Congress. Shortly thereafter he will journey to a nearby center of Catholic Charities. In so doing, he will be meeting very different groups of people: politicians, and the poor, legislators and the less fortunate.There is in these visits a powerful contrast. But not all things are as they appear for not as man sees does God see. Let’s consider both.The day will begin...

Pope Francis doesn’t hate you. But he does hate your lifestyle, your country, and the economic principles upon which your life is built. Today, the Holy Father will come to America, the nation which personifies all the evils he sees in the world, the country that is the obvious target of his invective and condemnation. As he condemns capitalism and consumerism, denounces things like air conditioning and private automobiles, and condemns people who, by overconsumption, engage in what he calls social and racial oppression, he’s talking about you. You know that, right? Yesterday he was in Cuba, where he had...

September 22, 2015   Tuesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 EzR 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20 King Darius issued an order to the officialsof West-of-Euphrates:“Let the governor and the elders of the Jewscontinue the work on that house of God;they are to rebuild it on its former site.I also issue this decreeconcerning your dealing with these elders of the Jewsin the rebuilding of that house of God:From the royal revenue, the taxes of West-of-Euphrates,let these men be repaid for their expenses, in full and without delay.I, Darius, have issued this decree;let it be carefully executed.” The elders...