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Someone was joking recently that the reason the Eastern Orthodox cannot have women bishops is because one can’t call a woman “Patriarch.” Behind the wisecrack is some wisdom, and the existence of women ministers in non-Catholic denominations raises the question of just how patriarchal the Christian religion must be.  Is it necessary to call priests “Father” and refer to the Pope as “Holy Father”? The title “Abbot” comes from the ancient term “Abba-Father,” and “pope” comes from the Greek word pappas — “daddy.” Are these no more than human traditions? Are these just social constructs? Or is the idea of...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God's law is about love for God and for others, not cold, abstract doctrine, Pope Francis said at a morning Mass. "It's sad to be a believer without joy and there is no joy when there is no faith, when there is no hope, when there is no law, but only rules and cold doctrine," he said at the Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae March 26. "The joy of faith, the joy of the Gospel is the touchstone of a person's faith. Without joy, that person is not a true believer," he said, according to...

A Christian street preacher has been convicted of a Public Order offence for using the wrong Bible verse in a public conversation with a man who identifies as homosexual, reports Christian Concern for our Nation. But the preacher was acquitted of two other Public Order charges. Unusual judgmentIn a highly unusual judgment, Michael Overd, who regularly preaches on the streets of Taunton, was told by the Judge that he should not have referred to Leviticus chapter 20 to make his point but clearly indicated that he could have used chapter 18 of the book. District Judge Shamim Ahmed Qureshi found...

ROME, March 26, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An influential Swiss cardinal at the Vatican has warned Germany’s bishops that the Church cannot merely adapt itself to the times as some Christians did in order to support the Nazis. In an interview with the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost, Cardinal Kurt Koch firmly (but politely) refuted the proposal of Cardinal Reinhard Marx and Bishop Franz-Josef Bode, both delegates to the upcoming Synod on the Family, that the Catholic Church has to adjust herself more to the “life realities” of Catholics today, and liberalize its attitude toward remarried divorcees. Cardinal Marx had even...

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Angry parents at a San Francisco Catholic school say they’ve had enough and two controversial leaders of their school’s church must go. The San Francisco Chronicle reported over 100 parents from the Star of the Sea School in the city’s Richmond District crowded into a meeting with representatives from the Archdiocese of San Francisco Wednesday. Their message was clear: Rev. Joseph Illo, pastor at the school’s church since August and Father Patrick Driscoll, the parish’s parochial vicar, should be removed from their posts. Illo and Driscoll gained attention earlier this year when they initiated new policies...

Twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly (raised Catholic in an Irish-American family) are about to embark on an important scientific experiment on Friday. Scott Kelly will begin spending a year in space on the International Space Station (ISS) while his brother stays back here on earth as a control subject. NASA will be studying how extended time in space changes Scott relative to his brother Mark. Living for an extended time outside the gravity of earth and partially exposed to the radiation of space can impact one’s bones, heart, eyes, muscles, and who knows what else. It’s probably important to...

London (AFP) - The Church of England will have its first husband and wife bishops after nominating Alison White to be the next bishop of Hull on Wednesday. White will become the Church's of England's second female bishop at a ceremony on July 3 in York, the diocese which includes Hull. "This is an adventure I had never imagined setting out on," White said in a statement. "You may have noticed that I am married to a bishop. This may seem excessive! You would think that one in a family is more than enough. "Believe me, this has crossed...

Catholic universities in America have lost sight of their institutional identities. Only direct intervention from the Vatican can reverse their decline.Catholic universities in America are typically regarded as offering a well-rounded education combined with one of the premier intellectual forces of the West: the Catholic Church, and its vast well of knowledge in almost every discipline. Unlike state-sponsored institutions, which can offer a quality education, Catholic universities have the advantage of a grounded and time-tested moral foundation. This foundation, and the discoveries, advances, and progress it has produced, is unrivaled in any other Western tradition. Secular universities, good though they...

A salute to Archbishop Cordileone for defending it in San Francisco.California is always a great state to watch, as things that happen there tend to be harbingers for the other 49. In San Francisco, we have the spectacle of an archbishop under attack from several state senators. His offense? Trying to ensure that high-school students in Catholic schools get the Catholic education their parents have freely chosen to give them. Archbishop Cordileone has had the good sense to ask high-school faculty to affirm that they will impart the Church’s social teachings. He’s trying to guarantee that students will receive the...

In new interview doctrinal chief Cardinal Müller criticises comments by German bishops' leader Cardinal MarxThe idea that bishops’ conferences can take doctrinal decisions on marriage and the family is “absolutely anti-Catholic”, the Vatican’s doctrinal chief has said. In an exclusive interview with the French Catholic magazine Famille Chrétienne, Cardinal Gerhard Müller said: “This is an absolutely anti-Catholic idea that does not respect the catholicity of the Church. Episcopal conferences have authority over certain issues, but not a magisterium alongside the Magisterium, without the Pope and without communion with the bishops.” The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the...

Cardinal Vincent Nichols has voiced his opposition to an initiative of nearly 500 priests of England and Wales in which they signed an open letter stating their “unwavering fidelity” to Church doctrine on marriage and the family ahead of the upcoming Synod on the Family. The Archbishop of Westminster said in a statement yesterday that their concerns about the synod should be raised with their bishop and are “not best conducted through the press.” But his response is causing considerable concern among some in Rome, and probably elsewhere, who feel that for priests to merely uphold the Church’s teaching in...

The organisation has urged priests not to tell their parishioners how they should voteThe Association of Catholic Priests has adopted a neutral position on the same-sex marriage referendum in Ireland and urged priests not to instruct their parishioners on how they should vote in May. The group of priests, with a membership of about 1,000, issued a statement saying: “After a consultation with our members, the results of which indicated clearly a wide range of views, the Association of Catholic Priests has decided not to adopt a position in favour or against the marriage equality referendum.” The statement added: “Sexual...

Almost exactly a year ago, Robert Mickens was suspended from his post as Vatican correspondent for the London Tablet, after he showed his contempt for Pope Benedict XVI with a Facebook comment that he was looking forward to “the Rat’s funeral.” Usually Mickens was more discreet, but that crude comment tells you what you need to know about his perspective. Having subsequently left The Tablet, Mickens now writes for Global Pulse, a web site that views Catholic affairs from a strongly “progressive” slant. There he has posted another revealing comment, this time on the decision by Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien...

Raul as a youth, was a dangerous, violent person who was ready to explode at any moment. This video chronicles the miraculous transformation of a person who was on a road to destruction to a man of God. This is the personal testimony of Raul Ries and how God demonstrates His grace, His love and His mercy. From Christiancinema.com: The true story of Raul Ries finds a young man full of hate and fight, lies and deception, and anger beyond control. This story focuses on Raul's high school days, martial arts experiences, and early years of his marriage. With everything...

Editor’s Note: Cardinal Raymond Burke spoke with LifeSiteNews Paris correspondent Jeanne Smits in Rome on January 21. We are running the interview along with an article (available here) drawing out some of the cardinal's most significant points. Smits has also published a French version of the interview on her blog.LifeSiteNews: Since the extraordinary synod on the family, we have entered a period of uncertainty and confusion over several “hot-button” issues: communion for divorced and “remarried” couples, a change of attitude towards homosexual unions and an apparent relaxing of attitudes towards non-married couples. Does your Eminence think that this confusion is...

Chesterton once wrote that “War is not the best way of settling differences—but it is the only way of preventing them from being settled for you.” If the Catholic Church is to continue to teach the timeless truths about the dignity of all human persons from conception to natural death, and the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman, the Church needs to begin to seriously engage in the war that has already been declared against her by those who wish to destroy these teachings. In the past few weeks, there has been an escalation of the attacks...

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Mar 23, 2015 / 05:33 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vicariate Apostolic of Southern Arabia, which serves the more than 2 million Catholics in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen, last week celebrated the 50th anniversary of its cathedral parish. On March 19, Bishop Paul Hinder, Vicar Apostolic of Southern Arabia, said a Mass of thanksgiving to mark the anniversary of the founding of St. Joseph's Cathedral, located in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. St. Joseph's is the oldest Catholic church in the emirates. Bishop Hinder was joined by more than 30...

Ghanaian Archbishop Charles G. Palmer-Buckle of Accra, right, shown here with Cardinal Polycarp Pengo of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Just like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, it’s easier to sort through items in the news when you know what the big picture is supposed to look like. It’s already clear that one of the Catholic megatrends of our time is the coming of age of the Church in Africa, which gives three recent storylines special importance. In late February, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), the continent-wide assembly of African bishops, announced the appointment of a...

Priests says that doctrine and practice must 'remain firmly and inseparably in harmony'Almost 500 priests in England and Wales have signed a letter urging those attending this year’s family synod to issue a “clear and firm proclamation” upholding Church teaching on marriage. In the letter, published in this week’s Catholic Herald, the priests write: “We wish, as Catholic priests, to re-state our unwavering fidelity to the traditional doctrines regarding marriage and the true meaning of human sexuality, founded on the Word of God and taught by the Church’s Magisterium for two millennia.” Last year’s extraordinary synod provoked heated debate on...

A while back I posted about the surge of vocations in the Diocese of Madison under the influence of the Extraordinary Ordinary, Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino, the diocesan bishop.  It’s a small diocese, but there are more than 30 outstanding men in formation.  This fact has made liberals quiver with anxiety.I received a note from a friend of mine in New York state who is well situated to hear all manner of news. The vocations office in Albany has gone from zero to 120 inquiries from young men of the area. My first reaction is to say, with Henry,...