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ROME — Pope Francis commemorated Earth Day on Monday by warning that the planet is “falling into ruin” thanks to humanity’s failure to protect it. “Our generation has bequeathed many riches, but we have failed to protect the planet and we are not safeguarding peace,” the pontiff chided on X (former Twitter) “We are called to become artisans and caretakers of our common home, the Earth which is ‘falling into ruin,’” he declared, followed by “#EarthDay.”

[Catholic Caucus] Cardinal Sarah: African bishops ‘have spoken for the whole Church’ by rejecting homosexual ‘blessings’Cardinal Sarah issued a stirring call to the African episcopacy, urging them to ‘speak in the name of unity of faith’ as ‘many Western prelates are paralyzed by the idea of opposing the world.’MVOLYÉ, Cameroon (LifeSiteNews) –– Warning that the “Church is dying,” Robert Cardinal Sarah has issued a striking call to action for African Catholics to be the “defenders of the universality of faith” especially at the Synod on Synodality, while also praising them for their rejection of same-sex blessings. Speaking in Cameroon as...

Israel's Chief Rabbi David Lau addresses letter to Pope Francis after Pope accuses Israel of engaging in terrorism just like Hamas.Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau addressed a letter today (Sunday) to Pope Francis in which he called on the Pontiff to retract comments made during a conversation with President Isaac Herzog last month in which he appeared to accuse both Israel and Hamas of “terrorism” in the ongoing war that started with the Hamas massacre of over 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7. During the conversation, Pope Francis said that it is “forbidden to respond to terror...

Pope Francis postponed a series of meetings because of a lung inflammation and breathing difficulties, the Vatican said Monday morning. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said in an emailed statement that a CT scan ruled out pneumonia but added that doctors had inserted a cannula to provide antibiotics. The pope lost part of a lung following an illness some 50 years ago. Francis, the first pope from the Americas, turns 87 next month and has battled ill health for years, canceling multiple engagements and appearing in public in a wheelchair. But Bruni's statement stressed: "The Pope’s condition...

[Catholic Caucus] Pope Francis as Public Heretic: The Evidence Leaves No DoubtEditorial Note: Rorate Caeli’s position is that Francis is the pope and that sedevacantism or any of its variants is mistaken. For the sake of enriching the public debate, we publish this study by frequent contributor Dr John Lamont concerning heresies in documents signed by Pope Francis (PDF here for those who prefer that format). While Dr. Lamont agrees that Francis is the pope, he considers that the questions that the pope's heretical statements raise need to be addressed in order to prepare theologians and prelates for what is...

You might be thinking this article’s headline is the start of a bad joke. You’d be right, except it’s no laughing matter. It seems a day doesn’t go by without hearing about someone who’s being attacked for saying things everyone knows are true, and this past week showed just how widespread this cancer has become, as each of these individuals or entities has tried to silence their critics for doing just that. Bishop Joseph Strickland from his post overseeing the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, ostensibly for his poor governance of the diocese but more likely for his frequent use of...

Francis’ New Book Hails Islam as a ‘Religion of Peace’Pontiff claims Islamic State terrorist outfit is a creation of the West In a new book recounting the last 10 years of his pontificate, Pope Francis is defending Islam as a "religion of peace" and suggesting the possibility of making celibacy optional for Latin rite priests. Non Sei Solo: Sfide, Risposte, Speranze (You Are Not Alone: Challenges, Answers, Hopes), published in Italian and released Tuesday, is a series of dialogues with journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti. The pontiff calls upon Europe to integrate Muslim migrants, insisting that "radical Islam is...

Alarm in the Vatican due to continuous voidsAlthough the official Vatican media tries to hide the reality, the truth is that attendance at the events presided over by Francis are plummeting.For several months now, due to the reduced mobility suffered by the Pontiff, the Vatican has been trying to control and limit all of Francis' movements. The low attendance and participation of the faithful in the Angelus, audiences or Masses in the Vatican has set off alarm bells in Rome.In this medium, both Specola and La Cigüeña de la Torre have echoed on countless occasions the continuous gaps that...

Pope Francis called on Palestinian militant group Hamas to free hostages abducted from Israel, adding that he is “concerned” over Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip. “I continue to follow what is happening in Israel and Palestine with tears and apprehension: many people killed, others injured,” Francis said Wednesday in his address to the general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. “I pray for those families who have seen a feast day transformed into a day of mourning, and I ask that the hostages be released immediately.” “It is the right of those who are attacked to defend...

[Catholic Caucus]On Eve of Vatican Synod, Bishop Warns of Move to Impose ‘Counterfeit Church’ROME — Kazakh Bishop Athanasius Schneider has joined the many Catholic prelates warning of nefarious plotting behind the scenes of the upcoming Vatican “Synod on Synodality.”O Lord, “prevent the enemies of the Church from exulting in a victory over the authentic Catholic Church obtained by imposing a counterfeit church under the guise of ‘synodality,’” Bishop Schneider wrote in a September 29 prayer for the synod.“For where sin and apostasy in the Church abounds, the victory of Your grace will abound the more,” the bishop added.In his prayer,...

Pope Francis on Imperialism: Is Russia a Special Case?A month after Pope Francis spoke in favorable terms about Russia’s imperial past, the diplomatic ramifications still reverberate. Last week, the Holy Father received the credentials of the new Russian ambassador, a rather routine encounter, though with a Vatican statement about how friendly the meeting was.A few days later, on Friday, the Holy Father received the Ukrainian ambassador to the Holy See in a private audience, which is absolutely not a routine encounter. Ambassadors to the Holy See get two meetings with the pope, both pro forma — one when they present...

Pope Francis urges Chinese Catholics to be ‘good citizens’As Pope Francis concluded Mass on Sunday in the Hun Theatre in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar, he took a moment to invite two Chinese bishops to stand with him at the altar for a moment.The Pope greeted Cardinal John Tong Hon, bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, and Cardinal-elect Stephen Chow Sau-yan, SJ, bishop of Hong Kong.As he held up their hands, Pope Francis sent greetings to the “noble people of China” and wished “all the people the best.”He encouraged the people of China to “strive ahead, always advancing.”Turning to the faithful...

The Church’s morals didn’t change until Vatican II in the 1960s. Before that, you had nearly two thousand years of consistency. If you speak to neo-Catholics now, they will tell you that there was a great revelation in the 20th century, and they realized that morality is constantly in flux, and that basically, all the fundamental premises of the historic Church are wrong. The Pope has gone from promoting gay anal to now actively attacking the people pushing back on it. He must be feeling he’s in a good position, to move from encouraging gay sex to actively organizing anyone...

Pope Francis blasted what he described as groups of "very strong, reactionary" American Catholics, warning against becoming "backwardists" who oppose change in the Catholic Church. "The situation in the United States is not easy: There is a very strong, reactionary attitude. It is organized and shapes the way people belong, even emotionally," said the pope. "I want to remind these people that backwardism is useless, and it is necessary to understand that there is a correct evolution in the understanding of questions of faith and morals."

“Christians should imitate Jesus in being steadfast — not inflexible — in their convictions, thus being open to change for the good of others, Pope Francis said on Sunday. “This is what God is like: He is love, and the one who loves does not remain rigid,” the pope said on Aug. 20. “You stand firm, you stay firm, not rigid.” The Christian, he added, “does not remain rigid in his own positions but allows him or herself to be moved or touched. He or she knows how to change plans. It’s creative love.” Pope Francis said: “We Christians want...

[Catholic Caucus] Flourishing Latin Mass Community Targeted Outside St. LouisAbove: inside the church of St. Barnabas the Apostle. Parish Website.In 2013, St. Barnabas the Apostle Parish in O’Fallon, MO—about 40 minutes outside of St. Louis—was dying. The pastor, Fr. Ray Hager, was told that the parish would be closed in about five years unless things turned around quickly.In response, Fr. Hager introduced the regular celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. Over the course of the next decade, the TLM grew rapidly until a majority of the parish consisted of those who attended the old rite. In 2021, St. Barnabas received...

The sisters had gifted the monastery to the Vatican in a last ditch attempt to save their way of life, only to have the Pope forcibly remove and defrock them.(Crisis Magazine) — For more than seven hundred years, the Franciscan monastery of Santa Chiara has stood overlooking the glorious waters of the Amalfi Coast in the town of Ravello, the “city of music” and the “pearl of the Amalfi.” Poor Clares came to Ravello in 1297, just after the death of St. Francis, and the monastery and town have flourished together for almost a thousand years. The monastery grounds, church,...

As is well known, big-hearted Pope Francis doesn’t take sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. As far as he is concerned, both sides are equally guilty of unleashing violence against the other; both deserve to be chastised and their respective acts of violence equally deplored. But of course there is no moral equivalence between Palestinian terror groups, that plot to stab, shoot, and blow up with rockets innocent civilians, and the IDF, that seeks to defend the people of Israel by punishing and preventing such attacks. (snip) Note the order of things. The Pope first expressed his sorrow about the “dozens...

[Catholic Caucus] Cdl. Müller: Pope would ‘automatically lose his office’ if he became a heretic'A pope could become a heretic as a private person and thus automatically lose his office if the contradiction to the revelation and the dogmatic teaching of the Church is evident,' affirmed the eminent cardinal.(LifeSiteNews) – Cardinal Gerhard Müller said in a recent interview that a pope loses his office if he becomes a heretic and “if the contradiction to the revelation and the dogmatic teaching of the Church is evident.” Müller made the remarks about a pope possibly losing his office while answering a question...

[Catholic Caucus] The ‘mercy’ of Amoris Laetitia has evil consequences for the Church: open letter to Pope FrancisWith the pontiff's novel doctrines, 'the architecture of the sacraments is broken.' YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast (LifeSiteNews) — The following is a letter by an African priest known to LifeSiteNews who prefers to use the nom-de-plume Fr. Jesusmary Missigbètò. His first open letter to Pope Francis regarding Amoris Laetitia can be found here. SECOND OPEN LETTER TO POPE FRANCIS, CARDINALS AND BISHOPS Yamoussoukro (City of Peace); Ivory CoastDecember 8, 2021Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin MaryDear Father, Dear Elders in the Catholic...