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Christians are not 'prophets of doom' but rather missionaries of hope, the Pope saidReal hope lies in the proclamation of Jesus’ death and resurrection, not just with one’s words but also in deeds, Pope Francis said. Christians are called to be witnesses of the resurrection through “their way of welcoming, smiling and loving” instead of just “repeating memorized lines,” the pope said Oct. 4 during his weekly general audience. “Look,” he said, “that’s what a real Christian is like, not whiny and angry, but convinced by the power of the Resurrection that no evil is infinite, no night is without...

The Catholic Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Phonsie Cullinan, has retracted his criticism of the HPV vaccine over the past week and apologised for his “poor judgment”. In an abrupt u-turn, Bishop Cullinan said he was sorry if any woman felt he was slurring their integrity with his remarks on promiscuity among young people. He described as bad judgment his attacks on the vaccine, when he claimed it was “lulling” young girls into promiscuity. “That was an error of judgment. It was far too simplistic a way of looking at it,” he said. His apology was delivered in an interview...

The Pope addresses the Bologna University students and speaks of the “right to culture, hope and peace”, “We need words that reach the minds and hearts”. His appeal against war, “We are not neutral, but stand for peace!”We have “the right not to be invaded on a daily basis by the rhetoric of fear and hatred”, the right “not to be overwhelmed by populist slogans or by the disturbing and profitable spread of fake news”. Francis pointed out during his meeting with students and the academic world of Bologna, in Piazza San Domenico, during which he renewed his appeal to...

October 4, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – An Opus Dei leader has denounced the signatories of a recently-published “filial correction” of Pope Francis regarding “heresies” propagated by the pontiff. The order’s Vicar General, its second-ranked prelate, accused the more than two hundred scholars and clergy who have signed the Correction of “attack[ing] the pope” and airing the Church’s dirty laundry in public. “Lamentably this isn’t the first time in the history of the Church in recent years in which there are groups of people that attack the pope, some of whom, I imagine, with good intention,” Monsenor Mariano Fazio told the Argentinean...

Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, of Caracas, Venezuela, was in Rome last Friday to update Pope Francis on the deteriorating situation in his country. Speaking with Crux, he said that despite several signs proving things are getting worse, he sees hope in the upcoming regional elections, which he believes will make reality "even more evident": The government of President Nicolas Maduro doesn't have the people's support.ROME - Though temporarily muscled out of the spotlight due to other international crises, Venezuela continues to be a nation on the edge of chaos. Pope Francis is being regularly updated on the situation, most recently...

eptember 29, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) – On May 12 I wrote about the exceptional spiritual advice in Cardinal Robert Sarah’s latest book, The Power of Silence. What I did not realize then was that Sarah also excoriates the Francis papacy (the pope, his appointees and strongest followers), by implication, in several places in the book. Sarah understands the hard sayings of Jesus Christ and the sacred duty of pastors to also imitate the Master in this when circumstances require it. I hope that at least all LifeSite Catholic readers will read these particular excerpts from the book. They are crucial at...

The cardinal said the Pope was surrounded by 'spies' and 'false friends'There is a climate of fear in the Curia as people worry “spies” will bad-mouth them to the Pope, the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has said. In an extensive interview with National Catholic Register, Cardinal Gerhard Müller said Pope Francis is surrounded by “false friends” who are acting like children in a boarding school by privately denouncing people they disagree with. “I heard it from some houses here, that people working in the Curia are living in great fear: If they say...

Few bishops have done as much to advance the new evangelization as Bishop Grzegorz RyÅ›, now the head of the Archdiocese of Lodz.Earlier this year, I was in a large building overflowing with people, mostly in their twenties, who had come from all over the city to see a man they adore. Getting a seat was out of the question; most in attendance were standing, squeezed together like sardines. I was not, however, at a rock concert or sporting event. I was at the Franciscan church in Krakow, Poland, at a Lenten retreat preached by Bishop Grzegorz RyÅ›, then the...

The former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith gives an extensive interview to the Register.Over the course of Pope Francis’ pontificate, reports from Rome have frequently mentioned the fact that when it comes to drafting documents, the Holy Father has preferred to consult his own advisers rather than depend on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), leading to the dicastery’s isolation. Added to this have been reports that since Francis’ election, the congregation has been less stringent in taking action against dissident theologians. How important is the CDF — until the 1960s, the...

Billboards with quotations from the correspondence between the holy Royal Martyrs Nicholas II and Alexandra have appeared throughout Moscow, the Synodal Department for the Cooperation of the Church with Society and the Media stated on Tuesday, reports Interfax-Religion. The quotes from the empress’ personal diary are part of the Church project “Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna: Words of Love,” dedicated to love, marriage, and family happiness. The project is aimed at the affirmation of family values in Russian society, and to give the people truthful information on the life of the royal family, as opposed to the historical fiction...

Moscow, September 28, Interfax - An Orthodox church will be built in the territory of the Russian Embassy in Afghanistan in 2018, the Izvestia paper writes with the reference to sources in diplomatic circles. According to the edition, veteran organizations of soldiers who fought in Afghanistan and other sponsors will participate in the building. The Rossotrudnichestvo federal agency is going to back up the project. "We have to coordinate this question with church officials and some other instances. This good undertaking looks quite realizable", - Rossotrudnichestvo representative in Afghanistan Vyachaslav Nekrasov said. The church will be built from Siberian pine....

More British women than men are starting training as priests for the first time in 16 years, the Church of England said. Of the 544 people in this autumn’s intake – which is the biggest since 2007 – some 274 ordinands are women while 270 are men, according to data from the Church of England’s Ministry Division. It is the first time men have been outnumbered since 2001, when 238 entered training for ordained ministry compared to 243 women. The figure also represents the highest number of women beginning their journey to priesthood in a decade.

L’Osservatore Romano has published a front-page article by Msgr. Pierangelo Sequeri, the president of the newly refounded John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences. In 2016, the theologian became president of the former Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. Writing in the September 22 edition, Msgr. Sequeri said that the Second Vatican Council presented a positive theological vision of marital intimacy and sought to revive the evangelizing spirit of early Christian families, while emphasizing that the Church is a family. “Since then, Peter’s barque has resolutely set its course on these...

* The Archbishop of Canterbury, 61, has conducted the wedding of a divorcee* Dr Justin Welby presided over ceremony at Lambeth Palace in central London* He was involved to show support for those who want to remarry in a church The Archbishop of Canterbury has conducted the wedding of a divorcee in a sign of support for those who wish to remarry in church. Dr Justin Welby presided over the ceremony at Lambeth Palace where one of his senior staff, Ailsa Anderson, married journalist Simon Cole. Miss Anderson, Dr Welby's head of media relations and former press secretary to the...

After the publication on Sunday, September 24, 2017, of the Correctio Filialis by 62 clerics and lay scholars in which they expose seven heretical propositions contained in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, FSSPX. News asked Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, why he signed the document.FSSPX.News: Why did you support the Correctio Filialis?Bishop Fellay: This filial approach on the part of clerics and lay scholars, troubled by the heterodox propositions in Amoris Laetitia, is very important. Christ’s teaching on marriage can not be surreptitiously changed on the pretext that the times have changed and...

Maronite Bishop Mounir Khairallah on a conviction to continue the Christian presence.“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.” — Tertullian of Carthage (Apologeticus, Chapter 50) The Maronite Catholic Church is commemorating the “Year of Martyrdom and Martyrs,” extending from Feb. 9, the feast of St. Maron — the fifth-century hermit who gave his name to the Maronite tradition — through March 2, the feast of St. John Maron, the first Maronite patriarch who founded the Maronite Church in 685. In his homily announcing the jubilee year, Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of the Maronites, said it...

The prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith says the Pope deserves ‘full respect’ and his ‘honest critics deserve a convincing answer’ as the Vatican declines to comment on a filial correction of the Holy Father, made public on Sunday.To resolve the impasse between Pope Francis and those who have grave reservations about his teaching, Cardinal Gerhard Müller has proposed that one solution to this “serious situation” could be for the Holy Father to appoint a group of cardinals that would begin a “theological disputation” with his critics. In comments to the Register Sept. 26, the...

Francis in Santa Marta: beware of “That ‘how come?’, which we’ve heard so many times from Catholics when they saw works of mercy”. “The door to meet Jesus is recognizing that we are sinners”The problem arises from “That ‘how come?’ which we’ve heard so many times from Catholics when they saw works of mercy. How come? Jesus is clear, He is very clear: ‘Go and learn.’ In today’s mass at Casa Santa Marta, day of the Feats of Saint Matthew, the Pope, in a very powerful homily, warns against the scandal aroused by actions and thoughts of mercy, all too...

The "Foreign Minister" of the Moscow Patriarchate points to the religious crisis of the old continent. With migrations and secularism, Europe is heading towards the total suicide of its identity. The responsibilities of intellectuals. "The present weakening of Christianity in the Western world recalls the situation of the Russian Empire before 1917." In Russia, only 13% declare themselves atheist and non-believers. Unite church efforts.Moscow (AsiaNews) - On 22 September, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev), the "Foreign Minister" of the Moscow Patriarchate, delivered an important speech at a conference organized by the Russian Embassy in London in front of diplomats, politicians, entrepreneurs and...

In a new interview with an Australian journalist, American Cardinal Raymond Burke rejected perceptions of a rift between him and Pope Francis as a "caricature," but insisted that "the harm done to souls by the confusion and error" resulting from the pontiff's document 'Amoris Laetitia' and its opening to Communion for the divorced and remarried has to be addressed.ROME - In a new interview, American Cardinal Raymond Burke has described impressions of a conflict between him and Pope Francis as a “caricature” and depictions of the pontiff as a liberal revolutionary “fundamentally dishonest,” but at the same time insisted that...