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What a unique major event the people in the Lafayette, La., diocese are having to close the Jubilee Year of Mercy! But it’s also meant to be inspire new-beginnings. This event is the Jubilee of the Word Marathon  -— an 86-hour public-square reading of the Bible from cover to cover -— Genesis 1 through Revelation 22. The marathon reading began on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 6 am and will continue straight through until finish on Sunday night, the Feast of Christ the King, at 8 pm. It’s all happening right now in the picturesque Square of St. Martinville, La.,...

(Vatican Radio) -- Pope Francis granted an interview to TV2000 and Radio InBlu (both official media outlets of the Italian Bishops’ Conference), which aired on Sunday evening. During the interview, Pope Francis responds to various questions regarding the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, which he officially brought to a close on Sunday morning with Mass in St. Peter’s Square. A few of the highlights from the broad-ranging conversation was a powerful reiteration of the Church’s constant teaching on abortion, calling the practice a “horrendous crime” and a “very grave sin”. The Pope also spoke of his own opposition to the...

The Lord Jesus Christ Recognized as the King of Poland Radio Maryja (@RadioMaryja) reports that the Bishops of Poland have enthroned, or, to use the bishops' more sober expression, "recognized" Christ as the King of Poland. This was done in the official presence of the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda. Many pilgrims were present in Poland for this event. Today the act will be repeated in all the Polish cathedrals and parishes. This took place yesterday, Saturday, at the Church of Divine Mercy in Krakow . The providential and proximate origin of the act is to be found in...

The “Donald Trump/Mike Pence Prayer Vigil” and “Pray for our American Heroes and Nation” have Combined to Form the AMERICA PRAYER VIGIL Prayer Thread! Join with Fellow FREEPERS to Pray for our President and Vice President-Elect and for AMERICA: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. 'This is the Confidence we have in Approaching God: that if we Ask Anything According to His Will, He Hears us.' 1 JOHN 5:14 Religion Forum Threads Labeled [Prayer] are Closed to Debate of Any Kind. Psalm 37:30,31 The Mouth of the Righteous Speaketh Wisdom, and his Tongue Talketh of Judgment. The...

Sister Blandina Segale was one of four candidates whose Cause, opened earlier this year, was approved by bishops During the US bishops’ autumn general assembly in Baltimore this week, they approved by voice vote the Causes of four men and women as part of the episcopal consultation in the Catholic Church’s process for possible canonisation.The four candidates are Julia Greeley, a former slave who lived in Colorado; Sister Blandina Segale, a Sister of Charity who served on the frontier; Fr Patrick Ryan, who ministered to those suffering yellow fever; and Mgr Bernard Quinn, who fought bigotry and established a black...

Coolidge was perhaps the 20th century’s most religious president. He saw the hand of Providence involved in America’s destiny and in her day-to-day affairs. He often warmly quoted the Bible in his speeches. He attended church regularly though he never joined a Washington church, worrying that his duties as president might make it difficult to set a good example. “I am inclined to think now that this was the counsel of darkness,” he regretted in his Autobiography. Most of all, he believed, as did his mentor, Charles Garman of Amherst College, that the Golden Rule revealed a new politics, where...

In a time where Christians have very little knowledge of other spiritual beliefs and the occult it seems that we are being challenged to be transformed along with the rest of the world that does not know Christ. The question we need to ask those who are promoting these methodologies: is Christ sufficient or deficient? The newest breakthrough trend on spiritual life/personality casting is ENNEAGRAM, this is supposed to be a tool for discovering more about one’s strength's and weaknesses in our personality. The word 'Enneagram' comes from two Greek words Ennea meaning 'nine' and Grammos meaning 'point'. The Enneagram...

The “Donald Trump/Mike Pence Prayer Vigil” and “Heroes and Nation Prayer Thread” have combined to form the American Prayer Vigil prayer thread. Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for our President and Vice-President-Elect and for America: Government, Family, Military, Business, Education, Churches, and the Media. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. I John 5:14 Religion forum threads labeled “Prayer” are closed to debate of any kind.

Claims that the atrocities of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have “nothing to do with Islam” are harming efforts to confront and combat extremism, the Archbishop of Canterbury has insisted. Religious leaders of all varieties must “stand up and take responsibility” for the actions of extremists who profess to follow their faith, the Most Rev Justin Welby said. He argued that unless people recognise and attempt to understand the motivation of terrorists they will never be able to combat their ideology effectively. It follows calls from a series of high profile figures for people to avoid using the...

Die Botschaft der Hoffnung (The Message of Hope) Gerhard Ludwig Müller Publisher Herder 280 pages € 24.99 [Editor’s Note: We’ve had this review in the queue since October, but with all that is currently transpiring in Rome, it seemed appropriate to publish it now, insofar as it stands as a witness that Cardinal Müller, whose duty it is to act as the chief doctrinal guardian of the Church, has in fact already made arguments in his recent book that align with the thrust of the dubia put forward by the Four Cardinals. We hope that the good cardinal will stand with them as the...

Rome -- The Vatican's Jubilee Year was supposed to draw 20 million Catholics to Rome, where hotels and restaurants were rubbing their hands with glee, waiting to cash in. But two days before the closure of Pope Francis's special Year of Mercy, a disgruntled hospitality trade has slammed it as a flop. "We were expecting much more than this. We did even worse than last year," said Antonio Calicchia, who owns a traditional restaurant a few hundred metres from Saint Peter's Square. "We heard some 20 million pilgrims would be coming to Rome. Where did they hide?" he quipped, bitterly....

When the Rev. Robert H. Schuller decided in the mid-1970s that his congregation was outgrowing the drive-in, low-slung Garden Grove church that Richard Neutra had designed for him 15 years earlier within earshot of Interstate 5, and that he needed a purpose-built cathedral to accommodate his increasingly popular “Hour of Power” televised sermons, he flew to New York to visit the architecture firm run by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. On the face of it, Schuller and Johnson were a very strange match, the self-made Orange County televangelist and the smoothly moneyed New York architect who was also an atheist...

VATICAN CITY, November 18, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis is "boiling with rage" over formal criticism of Amoris Laetitia from four cardinals, according to a Vatican insider. The National Catholic Register's Edward Pentin told EWTN's The World Over Live that "sources within Santa Marta" say "that the Pope is not happy at all" and is "boiling with rage."  "I do understand from sources within Santa Marta that the pope is not happy at all," said Pentin. "In fact, he's...boiling with rage. He's really not happy at all with this." The pope's rage is reportedly over a dubia, or formal request, from four cardinals that he...

Whether by coincidence or otherwise, on US election day, Pope Francis welcomed one of Hillary Clinton’s political soulmates — albeit well to the left of the Democrat candidate — to the Vatican.Emma Bonino, 68, is a former Italian Foreign Minister, abortionist and abortion activist, founder of the Transnational Radical Party that embraces notions of one world government and a board member of George Soros’s Global Foundation.She is also, in Francis’s words, “among the great ones of today’s Italy’’ for her work as a refugee advocate, especially for Africans.Fallout from the US election has drawn several civil wars — political and...

The Soyuz rocket that will launch three new Expedition 50 crew members to space Thursday was blessed at its launch pad today. Back in space, the Canadarm2 grappled the Cygnus cargo craft ahead of its release early next week.An Orthodox priest performed the traditional blessing of the Soyuz MS-03 spacecraft today before its launch to the International Space Station. Peggy Whitson of NASA, Oleg Novitskiy of Roscosmos and Thomas Pesquet of ESA are in quarantine at the Cosmonaut Hotel in Kazakhstan and are scheduled to liftoff Thursday at 3:20 p.m. EST on a two-day trip to their new home in...

Leaders from the minority Christian community in the Middle East have commended President-elect Donald Trump on his victory last week, saying they are hopeful the new American leader will strengthen and support the ethno-religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria victimized by the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL). Breitbart News spoke to Christian leaders from the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian community in Iraq and Syria, including the Syriac Catholic patriarch and leaders from two Christian militias. While campaigning for president, Mr. Trump, who identifies as a Presbyterian, vowed to defend Christians across the world, particularly those facing genocide in the Middle East. Emanuel...

Clergy, religious and laity in the Detroit archdiocese on Friday will convene for the archdiocese's first synod in almost 50 years. "Synod '16: Unleash the Gospel" — the official title — "is both an event and a process that sees people … gather to discuss important matters of faith" according to a press release from the archdiocese. In the release, Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron also stated that the synod serves two roles: to focus on the missionary purpose of the church and to change the "DNA" of the archdiocese. "The focus of this Synod is evangelization, to attempt a radical...

In today's world, it is of the utmost importance that Catholics have a virtuous leader to look to for guidance. Cardinal Raymond Burke has been a heroic figure to all of us at American Life League ever since he spoke with clarity regarding the meaning of Canon 915. Writing about this Catholic Church law in 2004, then-Bishop Burke explained: "For the Catholic politician to receive Communion when he or she has publicly violated the moral law in a grave matter like procured abortion risks leading others into thinking that they can accept procured abortion with a right conscience. In such...

Romanian medical doctor Anca-Maria Cernea made waves at the synod of bishops on the family last year when she told the assembly of bishops that the primary cause of the family crisis is not material poverty or consumerism but an ideological revolution being waged by “cultural Marxism.” “This ideology calls itself progressive,” she said, “but it is nothing else than the ancient serpent’s offer, for man to take control, to replace God, to arrange salvation here, in this world. It’s an error of religious nature; it’s Gnosticism...” ...You also refer to Antonio Gramsci, the Italian communist who advocated spreading communism...

Baltimore, Md., Nov 16, 2016 / 05:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Infidelity, divorce, sexual violence, pornography, hook-up culture – all things that have both increased en masse in society over the last few decades, and have seared pain into the lives of individual men and women.So how do we even begin to address the problem? By people – especially the youth – choosing to live in true, authentic and virtuous community with one another, says Archbishop Chaput.“We’re getting a culture that’s just hugely preoccupied with sexuality, and being restrained sexually is not considered a virtue anymore, apparently. I think that’s...