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ROME (katolisches.info) – The painful tension of doubt grows stronger with each day that Pope Francis refuses to answer the questions posed by the “Four Cardinals” regarding His Holiness’ statement on marriage, Amoris Laetitia. The doubt itself has metastasized dramatically since the “dubia” letter’s release two months ago. As Church hierarchy continues to publicly declare allegiance with one or the other side, giving strength to the impression of a fractured Church, the unnecessary viciousness of Papal confidants’ rebukes to the Four, strange rumors of a Pope “boiling with rage,” a “police-state Vatican atmosphere,” and Francis apparently declaring he will “go...

There has been a moral and pastoral crisis for the last half century in the Church, but I honestly think we haven’t yet seen anything like what might lie ahead. The 4 Cardinals—I like to call them "The Four Just Men" (coined by the prolfiic Edgar Wallace a century ago)—have nailed the roots of this threat in their five questions related to the apparent undermining of Church doctrine on intrinsically evil acts and the objective formation of conscience in Chapter 8 of Amoris Laetitia (AL). In fact, we are already seeing the very divisive effects of this document’s confusion. For...

January 2, 2017 Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church Reading 1 1 Jn 2:22-28 Beloved:Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise...

Why 2017 Will Be a Very Important Year - A Homily for The Solemnity of Mary Mother of God Msgr. Charles Pope • December 31, 2016 • Last week at Christmas we celebrated an event that was both pivotal and hidden. The conception and birth of Jesus Christ were events that changed human history. It was a daring, hidden raid by the Kingdom of Light into the kingdom of darkness, an incursion behind enemy lines, into enemy territory. Only some shepherds in Bethlehem and a few magi from distant lands were witnesses to this event, one which began the...

Our Lady of Guadalupe. Credit: Sacred Heart Cathedral Knoxville via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0). Denver, Colo., Dec 29, 2016 / 02:32 pm (CNA).- What do a grilled cheese sandwich and the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe have in common?Both bore what appeared to be images of Mary. One was determined to be authentically miraculous, the other was not. Not to spoil any secrets, but it’s not Our Lady of the Grilled Cheese that converted Mexico and continues to draw millions of people on pilgrimage every year.But have you ever wondered just how the Church determines the bogus from the...

January 1, 2017 The Octave Day of ChristmasSolemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God Reading 1 Nm 6:22-27 The LORD said to Moses: "Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites.Say to them:The LORD bless you and keep you!The LORD let his face shine uponyou, and be gracious to you!The LORD look upon you kindly andgive you peace!So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them." Responsorial Psalm Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 R. (2a) May God bless us in his mercy.May...

Folks, you can't make this stuff up. I would much rather be blogging about Christmas meals and winter outings, but if there was any benefit of the doubt still maintained (by a few) about the new direction of the Tulsa diocese, under the new Francis/Cupich-appointed Episcopate, common sense would now conclude otherwise. I'd think. Looking for a verifiable microcosm of the Francis revolution at the level of the Local Church? Look no further than here in the Oklahoma, USA. Strike One: Doloran Fathers Latin Mass exorcist society ended in diocese LINK Strike Two: Mother Miriam's Daughters of Mary (also devoted...

1. Be honest. Know yourself. What is your strongest virtue? What is your worst vice? Therefore, tailor your resolution so it strengthens your good side and fights your bad one. A one-size fits all resolution is useless. 2. Be specific. Don't use generalities. They don't work. For example, if you need to be more humble, just saying "I am going to be more humble," is useless. You need to zero in on one situation where you need to practice humility and resolve to improve in that one situation. 3. Be simple. Don't make it complicated. Focus on something you...

Love Finds a Way – As Seen in a Commercial Msgr. Charles Pope • December 30, 2016 • One of the more poorly translated (into English) verses of the Bible is this one: If you love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15). This gives the impression that the commandments are an imposition on us and that we prove our love for the Lord by keeping them through our own human effort. The verse thus translated could be interpreted to mean this: “If you really love me, prove it by keeping my commandments.”But the verb translated here as the imperative...

December 31, 2016 The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas Reading 1 1 Jn 2:18-21 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming,so now many antichrists have appeared. Thus we know this is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not really of our number;if they had been, they would have remained with us. Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One,and you all have knowledge. I write to you not because...

We recently received a disappointing ruling in the case of Bill Diss, a Portland, Oregon public school teacher who was fired after he objected to facilitating a Planned Parenthood sex education program in his classroom. The judge granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment, which means the case cannot go before a jury. Life Legal is appealing the decision.Bill Diss became “enemy number one” with his local Planned Parenthood affiliate when he led opposition to a new PP mega-facility in downtown Portland.When Planned Parenthood employees wanted to come into Diss’ classroom to recruit students for their “Teen Outreach Program,” or...

The Value of Silence Before the Great Mystery of the Incarnation Msgr. Charles Pope • December 29, 2016 • Something at Christmas urges me (a man of many words) to write of holy silence. Perhaps it is due to one of the great Christmas antiphons, which speaks of the birth of Christ as a magnum mysterium (a great mystery). During Mass recently, the words of Zechariah came to my mind:Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord … Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for...

December 30, 2016 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph When a Sunday does not occur between December 25 and January 1, this feast is celebrated on December 30 with only one reading before the Gospel. Reading 1 Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 God sets a father in honor over his children;a mother’s authority he confirms over her sons.Whoever honors his father atones for sins,and preserves himself from them.When he prays, he is heard;he stores up riches who reveres his mother.Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,and, when he prays, is heard.Whoever reveres his father will live a long...

A parish priest in the south of Italy enraged parishioners by dressing the Virgin Mary in a Muslim burqa for his church’s Christmas Nativity scene, adding a boatful of refugees and a rainbow flag in place of the star of Bethlehem. The pastor of the parish of Saints Joachim and Anne in Potenza, Father Franco Corbo, found himself face to face with an angry mob of demonstrators gathered outside his church on Wednesday to protest his provocative display.

The Reality of Christmas as an Antidote to Unreal Times Msgr. Charles Pope • December 28, 2016 • At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the Word made flesh. All the Gospel writers (especially St. John) emphasize the reality of God present among us in a very tangible, physical way. This is a critical truth because one of the dangers is reducing our faith to a mere collection of ideas, setting aside the actual Jesus who took up our full nature, lived among us, and summoned us to a real encounter.These Christmas themes are more important than ever for...

December 29, 2016 The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas Reading 1 1 Jn 2:3-11 Beloved:The way we may be sure that we know Jesus is to keep his commandments. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandmentsis a liar, and the truth is not in him.But whoever keeps his word,the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked. Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to youbut an...

Rome (kath.net) "Francis is increasingly lonely, weakened by resistance in the curia and the loss of courage to change in undermining the foundation." The "Spiegel" in a Christmas article describes the appearance of Pope Francis critically. "Bergoglio, whom they elected in 2013, they do not recognize many in the Francis of 2016", the magazine speaks to a confidant of the Pope. "Spiegel" - Rome correspondent, Walter Mayr then declares that even pope-followers are now distancing themselves. According to the magazine, the past Holy Year in Rome also fell far short of expectations, the conversion of the curia is only progressing...

Why Is Christmas Considered a Nighttime Event? Msgr. Charles Pope • December 27, 2016 • O Holy night! Yes, a silent night! And it came upon a midnight clear! Christmas, it would seem, is a festival of the middle of the night. Jesus is born when it is dark, dark midnight. We are sure of it. And why shouldn’t we be?Even though we are not told the exact hour of His birth, we are sure it must have been at night. Scripture does say that the Shepherds who heard the glad tidings were keeping watch over their flock “by...

December 28, 2016 Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs Reading 1 1 Jn 1:5–2:2 Beloved:This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christand proclaim to you:God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness,we lie and do not act in truth.But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,then we have fellowship with one another,and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.If we say, “We are without sin,”we deceive ourselves, and the...

A classroom assignment on Islam says one negative effect of the Crusades is that Christians are still treating Muslims harshly. “I almost fell over,” said Barbara Light. Mrs. Light, of Westwood, New Jersey, was helping her 13-year-old daughter prepare for a World History test when she discovered some rather shocking lessons. “The Christians’ harsh treatment of Muslims in the Holy Land led to bitterness that has lasted to the present,” one worksheet stated.