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Tomorrow in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI will raise to the honors of the altar the Indian religious, who dedicated her life to the poor and the underprivileged, despite her sickness and physical suffering. She is an example for the country, marked by interconfessional violence and by widespread materialism. New Delhi (AsiaNews) - "I always remember her smiling face, all of us students knew that she was suffering from different ailments and was sick, but she was always smiling." This is the personal recollection of Fr. Francis Vadakel, 72, about Blessed Alfonsa of the Immaculate Conception, who tomorrow, October...

The first intervention applauded at the Synod? Not the one you'd guess....Reverend Robert Welsh, president of the Council of Christian Unity of Disciples of Christ, a Protestant pastor whose congregation is mainly present in the United States, spoke Thursday of his desire that the synod would be a renewal also for non-Catholics. The theme of the synod, "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church," he said, "is central to the life of the whole church, calling forth obedience in the church's listening, obedience in our proclamation, and obedience in our responding to the Word...

A collective gasp and hushed murmurs rippled through the LDS Conference Center, but for Pietra Wall and Salvatore "Sal" Velluto, the reaction to LDS Church President Thomas S. Monson's announcement last Saturday was less contained and more personal. The two Italian immigrants and converts to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints heard the news of a planned Rome temple as an answer to their prayers. Even though she doesn't play the lottery, Wall, 46, said listening in her Layton living room to Monson name the five new temple locations was like waiting for the right number to be...

The island faiths have always seemed to me, at distant consideration, a fairly detached bunch, roused only by the threat of Sunday ferry sailings or the sight of an untethered child’s swing on the Sabbath. Okay, they don’t like anything much unless it involves walking slowly to church in a hat formerly owned by their great-grandfather, but these austere elaborations of the Calvinist reform tradition — the Free Church, the Free Church (Continuing) and the Free Presbyterian Church — always seemed too remote, too isolationist, to care about the world beyond Benbecula. But there’s one thing that does rouse their...

LONDON (The Catholic Herald) - Plans to rebury Cardinal John Henry Newman have been thrown into disarray after it was discovered that his body has disintegrated in its grave. Undertakers attempted to exhume the body of the Victorian cardinal on Thursday last week in preparation for his likely beatification later in the year.Officials were hoping to transfer his remains from a small rural cemetery in Rednal, Worcestershire, to a marble sarcophagus in the Birmingham Oratory, Edgbaston, where he could be better venerated by pilgrims. Plans had been announced for the cardinal to lie in state for three days in the...

» 10/11/2008 14:34 TURKEYBartholomew I: Orthodox summit for "the unity of the Church"NAT da PolisFollowing the example of the apostle Paul, the ecumenical patriarch launches an appeal "to unity" to resolve today's challenges. For the first time, leaders and representatives of the entire Orthodox world are meeting together. Istanbul (AsiaNews) - With a strong and heartfelt appeal for "the unity of the Church," the only way "to address the problems of the modern world," work began yesterday at the pan-Orthodox meeting in Fanar. The summit was organized by the ecumenical patriarchate, to celebrate the Pauline year, and is characterized by...

I was alerted to this very good item on the website of the Diocese of Tulsa.  Bishop Slattery continues to impress.  You will remember his statement after pro-abortion Catholics Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and VP candidate Sen. Biden (D-DE) made their scandalous gafs about the Church’s teaching on life. You will remember his strong instruction about sacred music. Now there is this spiritual approach to give support to priests of the diocese. Potential Spiritual Mothers Join to Pray, Learn About Roles Sheila Michie, at center, joins in praying the rosary with other women who are discerning whether to become spiritual mothers...

The Catholic diocese' Journey of Faith and Grace took an ungraceful step last week, when the pastor at what used to be called St. Albert the Great in North Tonawanda called 911 twice. "There's a gentleman here disturbing the peace and we need to have you come and speak with him so that we can have Mass," Father Ted Jost recalled telling dispatchers near the start of a 10 a.m. Mass Sunday, Sept. 28. That gentleman is Gus Suita, a parishioner and church usher since 1971 at what, since merging with the former Ascension parish earlier in the year has...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Evangelist Billy Graham was hospitalized Saturday after tripping and falling over one of his dogs at his North Carolina home, a hospital spokeswoman said. The 89-year-old Graham was at Mission Hospital in Asheville with discomfort and bruising and hoped to be home later in the day, said spokeswoman Merrell Gregory. He was listed in fair condition and his physicians report that X-rays showed no broken bones, Gregory said in a news release. -Snip- The Southern Baptist minister fell late Friday at his home in Montreat, N.C. Earlier this year, Graham had elective surgery to update a shunt...

Chicago, Oct 9, 2008 / 01:07 am (CNA).- Vision Vocation Guide and the VocationMatch.com web site have reported that over the past year more than 6,900 people interested in Catholic religious vocations completed online profiles and requested information from religious communities through the web site.The web site gathers information from inquirers and matches their profiles against the profiles of religious communities to produce recommendations, similar to the way matches are made at dating sites. Vision Vocation Guide says in a press release that VocationMatch.com users become “more qualified discerners” who have considered practical questions about a religious vocation, such...

Leading this morning's memorial Mass on the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's death, B16 donned a Roman vestment in tribute to the Eternal City's last native to become its bishop... and indicated that the movement toward Eugenio Pacelli's beatification continues well apace: Among other things, Benedict prayed aloud that the cause to declare Pius XII a saint “may move forward happily.” Benedict XVI’s comments came in a homily for a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius XII in October 1958. A reminder of the controversy surrounding Pius came earlier in...

In many respects, the contemporary church in America looks more like a large corporation than like anything described in the New Testament. Even church leaders sometimes bear a closer resemblance to CEOs and corporate executives than to humble, tender shepherds. Sadly, the good news — that a sinner can find forgiveness for sins before a holy God by placing his trust in and committing his whole life to Jesus Christ — is often eclipsed by “success”-oriented programs and an interest in the bottom line. As a result, many churches have become nothing more than entertainment centers, employing tactics that effectively...

"Pray for the Christians of India, pray for our people . . . so that they may understand that God is greater than anything, and can overcome evil with good": this is the message that Sr. Nirmala Joshi, superior of the Missionaries of Charity, has given to AsiaNews during her visit to Orissa, where for more than a month radical Hindu groups have unleashed a pogrom against Christians. The Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa's order, have been struck by the wave of violence; orphanages and hospices for lepers where they welcomed the abandoned have been destroyed. The brutality of the...

(ANSA) - Vatican City, October 8 - One of Italy's top journalists and historians on Wednesday defended controversial wartime pope Pius XII from the charge that he did not speak out against Hitler. ''Pius XII was a great pope, equal to the situation,'' Corriere della Sera editor and bestselling historian Paolo Mieli said. In an interview with Vatican daily Osservatore Romano on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the pope's death, Mieli said people had been seeking evidence that Pius was culpably silent about the Holocaust since the early 1960s. ''They've been looking for proof of his guilt since...

New York, NY, October 7, 2008 … On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pope Pius XII and due to renewed efforts by some to use incomplete historical evidence and testimony as the basis to reach definitive conclusions asserting that he did all he could to save Jews during the Holocaust, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is again calling on the Vatican to fully open its wartime archives. Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement: The need is greater than ever for the Vatican to fully open its wartime archives. It is essential that...

Much mischief in Catholicism often results from over-emphasizing one or another pole of a continuum. For example, push too hard on the church as a hierarchy, and the result is an inflated notion of authority; put too much stress on the church as the “people of God,” and you get congregationalism. Applied to the current Synod of Bishops on the Bible, this "both/and" feature of Catholicism means that the bishops need to do two things at once: foster a deeper knowledge and love for the Scriptures, without generating an exaggerated cult of the printed word divorced from broader notions of...

MANASSAS, VA (OCTOBER 8, 2008) - Father Richard McBrien, the Crowley-O'Brien Professor of Roman Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame, ripped into the hierarchy of the Catholic Church at a talk given at a Unitarian church in Kansas City recently. According to an article today, October 7, 2008 in the National Catholic Reporter, McBrien said Pope John Paul II’s greatest failing was naming bishops. “Father McBrien’s blatant disregard and contempt for the leadership of the Catholic Church is nothing new,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “Until Notre Dame and other Catholic colleges are...

The pages of failed end-of-the-world prophecies could make up a whole new testament. Now there's the Rev. David Jeremiah, an East County mega-pastor and TV evangelist who says the end is coming, in the words of a familiar church song, “soon and very soon.” In a new book that hit bookstores this week, Jeremiah offers 10 “prophetic clues” he says point to an imminent conclusion many Christians have clung to for 2,000 years – the Rapture (when the faithful will be summoned instantly into Heaven), followed by the Tribulation (a seven-year period of turmoil), Armageddon (the final battle of good...

Among the rookies attending their first Synod of Bishops is the US bench's #2, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson... who's substituting his usual "Monday Memo" with a daily blog chronicling the experience: I found my seat -- section II, row G, seat 14 -- right in the center of the hall. The guidelines for the Synod are most interesting. They state that delegates are expected to be at every session no matter what. If you want to be excused, you need to see the General Secretary and you have to state your excuse. (I think we might have to...

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 6, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI sent a personal message to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II saying that modern times call for a hastening of the journey toward Christian unity. The Sept. 22 message was hand-delivered to Alexy II by the archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, on an official visit to Moscow at the invitation of the patriarch. The cardinal gave the message to the patriarch in a meeting that lasted a little more than an hour last Thursday. "I have a deep affection for all the Orthodox brethren, and I am particularly close to them in...

“Revival! June 1- June 6th — Special singing each night.” How often we have observed similar advertisements in front of various churches. Also we have seen such wording in the media announcing the special meeting. Because of this type of promotion, the average American would equate having a special meeting with revival. But, is this a true definition? When the late missionary Dr. James A. Stewart first came to the U.S.A. from Scotland, he spotted such a sign in front of a church. He was riding on a bus at the time and was excited by a sign that...

At this time our military is in harms-way and families that have lost loved ones are saddened to despair. PRAY and ask our Loving Lord for his will and for mercy.

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention says the denomination must correct what he sees as a drift from a Great Commission. Dr. Johnny Hunt made his comments during his first presidential address to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee in Nashville. Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, said the denomination is fragmented and must make proclaiming the gospel first priority. He adds that the drift from the Great Commission is evident in the declining baptisms in the SBC. Hunt believes the time has come for greater camaraderie in the denomination and an emphasis on reaching...

JERUSALEM, SEPT. 29, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI worked a "subtle revolution" with regard to relations with Jews during his trip to Paris earlier this month, simply by quoting the Talmud, says an Israeli priest. Jesuit Father David Mark Neuhaus, the secretary-general of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic Vicariate in Israel, known also as the Association of St. James, explained this in an article posted on the Web site of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic Vicariate in Israel. Father Neuhaus also serves as the priest in charge of the Hebrew-speaking Catholic community in Haifa. "We have become used to the friendly tone of papal statements...

Nowhere in Scripture does it say that Jesus Christ wrote a book or commanded anyone else to write a Gospel. In fact the only place where it is recorded that He wrote anything at all, is in John 8:6-8. He wrote on the ground with His finger, and to this day, we do not even know what He wrote. However, He did found a beautiful Church. He made her His Bride, and He made her a teaching Church.His teaching Church had been in existence for over a decade before the first book of the New Testament was even written.By the...

On Aug 16, 2008 while Obama held leads in a majority of national polls, thousands of Christians gathered to together at the Mall in Washington DC for a single day of prayer and fasting. Less than two weeks later, Senator McCain picked a born again Christian conservative woman named Sarah Palin for his VP. The election changed over night."For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places," EPH 6:12.Sept 28-Oct 4 is a week where thousands of Christians from across the...

The speech was sponsored by the Hudson Institute on September 25. Dear friends,Thank you very much for inviting me. Great to be at the Four Seasons. I come from a country that has one season only: a rainy season that starts January 1st and ends December 31st. When we have three sunny days in a row, the government declares a national emergency. So Four Seasons, that’s new to me.It’s great to be in New York. When I see the skyscrapers and office buildings, I think of what Ayn Rand said: “The sky over New York and the will of man...

Some of you have probably heard the advertisement related to mortgage foreclosures. They conclude by saying, “Nothing is worse than doing nothing.” The ad is trying to encourage people to be proactive to do what you can to reach out, let your status be known, to get more information, and to do something rather than just sit back and lose your home to foreclosure. “Nothing is worse than doing nothing.” At times, it does seem that doing nothing is the best thing to do, even the wise thing to do. You can on occasion act too quickly or overreact. It...

YELLOWKNIFE, Canada, SEPT. 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- With presidential candidate John McCain naming pro-life Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential nominee, Christianity in the Arctic is suddenly a topic of interest within the English-speaking world.The far north remains one of the few regions in the Western world that still boasts missionary dioceses. According to Bishop Denis Croteau, the retired bishop of MacKenzie-Fort Smith, Christian ministry in such dioceses comes with its own unique blessings and challenges.Prior to retiring this past summer, Bishop Croteau, of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, served 22 years as bishop of MacKenzie-Fort Smith. The diocese covers...

When two Catholics... learned that Sacramento Coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto was to be the keynote speaker at the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries conference in Long Beach on Sept. 18, they decided to attend themselves to see and hear the talk in person. They say what they witnessed was a bishop who “courageously but gently” gave a clear presentation of Church teaching on sexuality.... But there was noting ambiguous about Bishop Soto’s remarks to the group. “Sexual relations between people of the same sex can be alluring for homosexuals, but it deviates from the true meaning...

London, Sep 26, 2008 / 05:07 am (CNA).- This week the Archbishop of Canterbury became the first Anglican leader to visit the Marian shrine at Lourdes in France. During his three-day visit, he preached a homily at an international Mass and made remarks which critics construed to mean that he accepted the reality of the Marian apparitions at Lourdes and the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception which the apparitions communicated. One critic called the archbishop’s presence a “wholesale compromise” and labeled him a “papal puppet.” Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, had been invited to the shrine by Jacques...

Congregation suing district after its home is sold BY MARK BARNA August 4, 2008 - 1:15AM When the church locks were changed on a summer's day two years ago, Zhen Xue and the other congregants were dumbfounded. After all, the Chinese Alliance Church parish owned the Colorado Springs property and had money in the bank to keep it running. Two days later, on July 2, 2006, the congregation got the explanation: Leaders of the MidAmerica District of the Christian & Missionary Alliance said they were shutting down the church because church membership, and thus donations, had fallen. The district...

Roy H. Schoeman, author of Salvation Is From the Jews and editor of Honey From the Rock, will be on Fr. Mitch Pacwa's guest tonight on "EWTN Live," which airs at 8 p.m. Eastern (5 p.m. Pacific), to talk about Pope Benedict XVI's relations with the Jews and Judaism. Related IgnatiusInsight.com Links/Articles:               • Jews Find the Sweetness of Christ | Preface to Honey From the Rock | Roy Schoeman• "Jews Demand Signs" | An Interview with Roy Schoeman, editor of Honey From the Rock: Sixteen Jews Find the Sweetness of Christ • Judaism Fulfilled |...

Economic crisis, low media focus blamed for scant storm relief gifts WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Destruction from the hurricanes and tropical storms that have devastated U.S. communities and Caribbean nations in the past few months has exceeded the damage Hurricane Katrina inflicted on New Orleans in 2005, but donations for relief efforts this time are drastically less. "I believe a combination of the recent economic crisis and the media attention, or lack there of, have presented challenges to us," said Patricia Hvidston, senior director of development for Catholic Charities USA. "We have gotten donations, and we're grateful to everyone who has...

PHOENIX, September 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Statistically church-going Catholics are pro-life, and pro-family.  However, many nominal Catholics (in some parts of North America, the majority of Catholics) are non Church-going and thus tend to fall in with the general population in terms of adherence to life and family values.  However, an innovative media company is changing those statistics by airing a series of powerful commercials which have been shown to drive Catholics back to church in droves.   Catholics Come Home Inc., an independent, non-profit is the group behind the current TV advertising campaign that is contributing to thousands of...

"Father, we pray that out of your glorious riches you may strengthen us with power through your Spirit in our inner beings, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. And we pray that, being rooted and established in love, that we may have power--together with all the saints--to grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of Messiah is. Lord, we want to know of your love that surpasses knowledge, so that we may be filled to the measure of the fullness God." Eph 3:16-19For some time, through FReepmail, several FReepers have provided...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)--Early in my ministry, I found myself staring at the ceiling for hours each night, night after night. I had a decision to make, and I didn't know what to do. A couple, both of whom I cared about, asked me to officiate at their wedding. Neither of them were followers of Jesus. It was a torturous quandary because I wanted an ongoing relationship with them, as an inroad to the Gospel. This couple wasn't in disobedience to the Word of God. This wasn't the "unequal yoking" of a believer to an unbeliever. That would have been an...

DoD Identifies Army Casualties The Department of Defense announced today the death of seven soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Sept. 18 when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter they were in went down in the vicinity of Tallil, Iraq. Killed were: Chief Warrant Officer Corry A. Edwards, 38, of Kennedale, Texas, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Texas Army National Guard, Grand Prairie, Texas. Sgt. Daniel M. Eshbaugh, 43, of Norman, Okla.l, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation, 36th Combat Aviation Brigade, Oklahoma National Guard, Lexington, Okla. Sgt....

A widely-sought whiz with the books and just-as-prolific witness, no small amount of the church's efforts in health care -- and its ability to care for its own -- owes itself to the ministry of Holy Cross Sister Gerald Hartney, called home last week at 98... Hartney helped develop the principles of Medicare's early legislation and was a sought-after financial management consultant to U.S. health care institutions, as well as religious congregations, and Roman Catholic bishops and dioceses in the United States and Africa.... She was known for her pioneering efforts in securing Social Security benefits for members of...

WITTENBERG, Germany: The town where Martin Luther tacked his 95 theses to a church door is kicking off a decade of celebrations leading up to the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

Rabbit and cat animation at days end, fall to sleep. The instrumental of this footage is a shortened version of the hymn, “Sweet Hour of Prayer”.

I need not give you a barrage of statistics in order for you to be convinced that marriages need all of the help that they can get. There is no single reason for why marriages are failing and homes are torn apart, but as to the causes of what brings about dysfunction in our homes, two things stand out. There is a lack of commitment to biblical principles that will protect and bless the marriage. There is also the unrelenting presentation by the media showing infidelity and personal gratification as the norm. The entertainment media, especially television and movies, make...

A reader sends along photographs of Bishop Clark's "installation" Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes parish for his newly appointed pastoral administrator Sr. Joan Sobala, a vocal proponent of women's ordination who has been spotted wearing a crucifix with a female corpus. The "cluster" over which she presides includes St. Anne parish, hitherto an oasis of relative sanity. Do read the captions and commentary that accompany each photo. At this point it seems clear that Clark and his allies are pursuing a scorched earth policy for his remaining four years in the Diocese of Rochester. Keep Rome informed, Rochester...

September 17 Dr. Ray Guarendi - Is Authority a Bad Word?

Two groups at Naval Air Facility Atsugi are unhappy with the command chaplain in the wake of changes made to their religious programs. About 100 Atsugi Catholics aired concerns about Cmdr. Douglas Rosander in a Sept. 2 meeting with base commander Capt. Justin T. Cooper, base officials said. Rosander removed Catholic statues from the base chapel Aug. 28. It was the latest in a series of actions taken by Rosander that upset the Catholics, according to Roger Avery, Atsugi parish council president of seven years. Among other parishioner concerns were the relocation and downsizing of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and...

CHPP [Capital Hill Prayer Partners] CONFERENCE August 28-31, 2008 My notes REV. PAT ALLEN – Prayer Shield Revelation Ministrys • I’ve never called anyone to membership I’ve called you to discipleship. • Jehosaphat didn’t go into the city; he went around the city. God will show you how to go around your enemy. • Pray that God bring this nation under God by any means necessary. Pray this all year. • Pray for your voice – that not one word fall to the ground. • You may give out but don’t give up. • The only way God can...

What can we do to combat this canker of contention? What steps may each of us take to supplant the spirit of contention with a spirit of personal peace? To begin, show compassionate concern for others. Control the tongue, the pen, and the word processor. Whenever tempted to dispute, remember this proverb: “He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.” (Prov. 11:12; see also Prov. 17:28.) Bridle the passion to speak or write contentiously for personal gain or glory. The Apostle Paul thus counseled the Philippians, “Let nothing be done through...

Men becoming priests at mid-life By Bob Holliday BLOOMINGTON -- In what he calls his past life, the Rev. Geoffrey Horton worked at a Bloomington-Normal insurance company, coached a women’s softball team, owned a home and invested in a 401K. Although life was good, Horton, 43, felt something was missing. In May, he found his calling as a newly ordained Roman Catholic priest. “I became a priest for the only reason anyone should ever become a priest, because I felt that’s what God was asking of me,” said Horton, currently assigned at a church in Peoria. The Rev. Michael Bies...

The Rome seminary considered the West Point for U.S. priests has its largest incoming class in 40 years. The Pontifical North American College is welcoming 61 seminarians in its fall classes beginning in mid-October, according to Catholic News Service. The school, on a hill overlooking the Vatican, opened in 1954 with room for more than 200 students, but has not been full in recent years. Monsignor Robert Gruss, vice rector for student life, told CNS that the college, which is sponsored by the U.S. bishops, will have 208 seminarians total this year.

LOURDES, France (CNS) -- Being pope is not a one-dimensional job, a fact that was clearly evident during Pope Benedict XVI's four-day visit to France. Arriving in Paris Sept. 12, the pope first engaged in an important political encounter that attempted to build on the new openness shown the church by President Nicolas Sarkozy. Next, in a brief meeting with Jews, he managed to capsulize in 20 graceful lines the church's respect for Judaism and its firm rejection of anti-Semitism. That evening, the pope slipped into his academic role and delivered a lecture on monasticism's influence on Western civilization to...