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I can't subject myself to the articles about Pope Francis demotion and exile of Cardinal Burke posted by long suffering Catholic journalists who have been luring our children into adultery and sexual debauchery, but I have been reading the headlines. I have also been fielding questions from readers who tell me stories about how their relatives and loved ones have put adultery on full throttle, citing the counterfeit deposit of faith Pope Francis has generated with his...I am groping for charity here...statements and actions contrary to Church teaching and obfuscation of teaching. These journalists have been permitted to use the...

The Rhine and Tiber have clearly merged into one filthy polluted river washing over faithful Catholics like the rising floods of Noah. Kasper, Marx and others from Germany continue to scandalise the faithful and debase the truth all under the watchful eye of Jorge Bergoglio, the man whom the Grand Lodge of Italy remarked that with him "nothing will be the same." The Synod on the Family became a cesspool of dissent where over half the bishops, though not the two-thirds required, actually wanted some kind of accommodation for Holy Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics and unrepentant sodomites. It...

Almost 20 years ago, I was speaking with an older Jewish couple who seemed very close to putting their faith in Jesus as Messiah, but they were not 100 percent sure.I said to them, "Later this week I'm debating an Orthodox rabbi. Why not come to the debate to hear both sides of the issue, and then you can make an informed decision?"Thankfully, they came to the event, they listened with open hearts and minds, and by God's grace, they came to faith.More recently, I was invited to speak on a college campus about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, representing the Israeli...

We cannot believe this wondrous event is almost here! How blessed Washington is to receive this theological giant of mercy, who truly is a light-bearer. A reminder: Next Thursday, November 6, Walter Cardinal Kasper will receive a prestigious award from the Catholic University of America's theology school, delivering a lecture there on the "theological background of the ecclesiological and ecumenical vision of Pope Francis." About the award: For Excellence in Scholarship and Leadership in Religious Studies Established in 1985 as the only academic award given by The Catholic University of America’s School of Theology and Religious Studies, the Quasten Medal...

In the first of this two-part series, we examined how Progressives have skillfully utilized Lust, Greed and Gluttony to capture control of the Democratic Party and weaken the moral fiber of the American people. As we continue to examine the warnings of Dante as outlined in his work, Inferno, we look at the remaining "seven deadly sins" and how the Great Deceiver's earthly forces work to erode the spirit of our republic and fundamentally transform our society into one of their liking. You may view the first part, in which we discuss Lust, Gluttony and Greed by accessing the following...

More than a thousand evangelical pastors and others—gathered for a three-day conference to steel the resolve of Christians who preach that gay relationships are sinful—were asked a simple question: How many live in a state that recognizes same-sex marriage? Hands rose all across the convention hall. “This moral revolution is happening at warp speed,” said the Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. “This is a real challenge to us on biblical authority.” Speakers at the event said they understood they were on the losing end of the culture war on marriage. But they were prepared to...

The recent session of the Synod on the Family has been likened not a few times by commentators as an attempt at a mini-Vatican III. And this appellation has some validity, for the past year or more has seen the re-appearance of such personages as Hans Küng (albeit not in vigorous form), Gustavo Gutierrez, and, at least in spirit, Karl Rahner, and, in the flesh, the indefagitable Cardinal Kasper, all examples of those who seemed to be disappointed that Vatican III did not follow closely after Vatican II to accomplish unfinished business: to get the Church firmly on the same...

I can’t remember where I came across this riveting Civil War question, “Why didn’t the Civil War soldiers turn in battle when facing canons loaded with canister?” I often wondered how men kept marching forward in the face of near-certain death by having their flesh mercilessly shredded. Surely there was uncommon valor and bravery. Yet, was there another dynamic moving them forward in the face of a hideous death? Civil War soldiers marched into battle in units composed of men from their hometowns and home states. If a man turned in battle, his cowardice meant that he couldn’t go home...

Corruption is like “bad breath,” says Pope Francis, “it is hard for the one who has it to realize it; others realize it and have to tell him.” In an address to a delegation of the International Association of Penal Law this morning, Francis commented on a variety of troubling international legal issues, including the widespread problem of corruption, which he called “a greater evil than sin.”

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, was an active participant in this month’s Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the theme “The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.” The synod’s purpose was to examine challenges to the family today, and ultimately to develop a more effective pastoral approach for the Church in addressing those challenges. In addition to speaking out in defense of the unborn, Archbishop Kurtz has been a vocal supporter of the traditional family against legal recognition of same-sex marriage. During the two-week-long...

Cardinal Vincent Nichols has said that the lives of Catholics who cohabitate outside of marriage are “marked by real goodness”. In a pastoral letter to the Diocese of Westminster reflecting on the family synod, Cardinal Nichols said: “A central principle for this pastoral care emerged clearly: that in trying to walk alongside people in difficult or exceptional situations, it is important to see clearly and with humility all the good aspects of their lives. That is what comes first. From this point, we learn to move together towards conversion and towards the goodness of life that God has for us...

As the final furlongs of the 2014 midterm election season approach, it is important that as conservatives we reflect upon not simply on polling data and the issues that drive individual races, but precisely what drives our political activism. While establishment Republicans and Tea Party enthusiasts alike fully recognize the failings and inadequacies of the GOP, we need fully recognize that our goals of a more perfect Union and the future of our children depends on electing men and women who share and reflect our values to the US Senate, Governors mansions and (possibly of even greater importance) state legislature...

In my mind, the Relatio (The mid Synod report), released today October 13th, is the equivalent of standing out in a field during a thunderstorm holding a 50ft lightning rod, daring God to hit it! A snippet... 45. Divorced people who have not remarried should be invited to find in the Eucharist the nourishment they need to sustain them in their state. The local community and pastors have to accompany these people with solicitude, particularly when there are children involved or they find themselves in a serious situation of poverty. 46. In the same way the situation of the divorced...

We got this letter some hours ago, and asked this reader in Africa for his permission to post it. He just asked to have any information that could identify him or the diocese removed. Dear friends of rorate-caeli.blogspot.com, I live in the diocese of [omitted] in [a small country in East Africa], a diocese that's very full of life, marriages, baptisms, confirmations, vocations are so abundant that they would seem improbable elsewhere. Since I lived for many years in Belgium and in Ireland years ago, I know what I'm talking about. Our bishop, [name omitted], though not at all old,...

It never ceases to outrage when those who abide unabashedly and unrepentantly in sin claim to be Christians. Like the two churchgoing San Diego couples whom we previously wrote about – Will and Shirley and Nate and Faith – whose idea of a small group was a casino gambling ring. They were featured in the documentary film “Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians.” More recently there was Alexis McGill Johnson, who this past spring became the chairwoman of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s foremost abortionist. Johnson publicly professes herself a Christian but thinks there nothing wrong with killing...

This week my denomination, through its executive committee, voted to "disfellowship" a congregation in California that has acted to affirm same-sex sexual relationships. This sad but necessary move is hardly surprising, since this network of churches shares a Christian sexual ethic with all orthodox Christians of every denomination for 2,000 years. One of the arguments made by some, though, is that this is hypocritical since so many ministers in our tradition marry people who have been previously divorced. The argument is that conservative Protestants already embrace a "third way" because we've done so on divorce. Couples divorce, sometimes remarry others,...

The Tswana people of South Africa practice polygamy. (Photo/Wikipedia) Say “family issues” to most Americans or Europeans, and they’re likely to flash on divorce, or the challenges of single-parent households, or perhaps same-sex relationships and the push for gay marriage.What probably wouldn’t come naturally to mind is polygamy. Yet in many parts of the non-Western world, polygamy is a major feature of family life, and thus a major pastoral challenge for the Catholic Church.Discussion of polygamy is likely to surface at the Oct. 5-19 Synod of Bishops on the family in the Vatican, and could be a factor in the...

A single mother, people who have been married before and couples who have been living together "in sin" were married by Pope Francis in a taboo-challenging ceremony at the Vatican on Sunday. In another signal of the openness of his papacy, Francis asked to marry 40 people from different social backgrounds who would be a realistic sample of modern couples. It comes three weeks before a major synod of the Catholic Church will discuss the divisive issues of marriage, divorce and conception.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: Whoever lives beneath the cross of Jesus, and has discerned in the cross of Jesus the utter ungodliness of all people and of their own hearts, will find there is no sin that can ever be unfamiliar. Whoever has once been appalled by the horror of their own sin, which nailed Jesus to the cross, will no longer be appalled by even the most serious sin of another Christian; rather they know the human heart from the cross of Jesus. Such persons know how totally lost is the human heart in sin and weakness, how it...

Once upon a time there was a church founded on God’s entering into human history in order to give humanity a path to eternal life and happiness with him. The Savior that God sent, his only-begotten Son, did not write a book but founded a community, a church, upon the witness and ministry of twelve apostles. He sent this church the gift of the Holy Spirit, the spirit of love between Father and Son, the Spirit of the truth that God had revealed about himself and humanity by breaking into the history of human sinfulness. This church, a hierarchical communion,...