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[Catholic Caucus] Rock-And-Roll Sound for St Peter'sCarlo Carbone, an architect and acoustics expert, says he brought a touch of rock and roll to a new sound system, recently unveiled in St. Peter's Basilica (CruxNow.com, August 12).Carbone designed a system in which sound is not projected from all the speakers in the basilica at once, but is passed through some 80 speakers with millisecond delays controlled by digital technology, giving the impression that the sound originates at the altar and then spreads through the church.This technique is used at rock concerts.According to Carbone, it's the first time such acoustic engineering has...

[Catholic Caucus] Mass… no mas… in St. Peter’s for the end of the Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage this year. Wherein Fr. Z muses about an alternative.Yesterday The Great Roman™ informed me of the news that for this year’s Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage in October (I hope to be there), the locum tenentes of St. Peter’s Basilica have forbidden the celebration of Mass in the Vetus Ordo.I was told that the reason for not allowing the TLM in St. Peter’s for the Pilgrimage is that the Synod (“walking together”) on Synodality (“walking together-ity”) ends the day before.So, obviously, there can’t be a Mass...

[Catholic Caucus] "On the Empty Altars Dwell the Demons." By SpecolaSt Peter's Square. It is now 7 a.m. and there are only a few people hurrying to their workplaces.We enter the abandoned basilica. In a few months we have lost the intense activity that used to fill the many altars in the huge space with life. This was a sacred spectacle, unique in the world. It is no more.Priests from all corners of the world, alone or accompanied by groups of the faithful, celebrated in all languages and rites. Now that is forbidden.Altar boys, now banned from the Vatican, and...

[Catholic Caucus] #SumPont2021: Procession and Mass at Saint Peter's Basilica - TRADITION WILL NEVER DIE! TRADITION WILL NEVER DIE!Second Day Procession: Mass:

[Catholic Caucus] Mass Celebrated in Saint Peter’sA miracle happened in Saint Peter’s on the day of Saint Michael the Archangel (September 29).Despite the fact, that Francis forbad Masses in the basilica and turned it into a museum, some courageous priests were able to dodge the radar and celebrate a solemn Roman Mass at Saint Michale’s altar.Pictures of the glorious Mass were published on MessaInLatino.it. One shows a Swiss Guard who privately participated at the Mass in full uniform although this attire is used only in presence or at the service of the Pope – who obviously wasn’t present at such...

[Catholic Caucus] Vatican Considers Banning Latin Mass From St PeterThe chapter of the Vatican's St Peter's basilica - or whoever is behind this - considers banning the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and all private masses at the basilica's side altars.In Saint Peter's, it was always possible for priests to celebrate private Masses, however, some years ago, this possibility was limited to the morning hours.Since John Paul II, the TLM could be celebrated in the crypt. Benedict XVI allowed its celebration also in other parts of the basilica.Rorate-Caeli.Blogspot.com (January 23) has learned that “those venerable practices may be about to be...

Franciscan Media Image: The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican | photo by Fczarnowski / Image: Statue of Saint Paul in front of the facade of the Basilica of Saint Paul outside the Wall, Rome | photo by Berthold Werner Dedication of Churches of Saints Peter and Paul Saint of the Day for November 18  The Story of the Dedication of the Churches of Saints Peter and Paul St. Peter’s is probably the most famous church in Christendom. Massive in scale and a veritable museum of art and architecture, it began on a much humbler scale. Vatican...

Would Pope Francis say anything about this year’s Vatican nativity scene — which was so clearly meant as a nod to the LGBT lobby — when he paid it a visit on New Year’s Eve? He spoke not a word of course, but instead blessed it and chuckled as a few dignitaries, responsible for what some have called a “hideous” and “sacrilegious” crèche, gave him a guided tour. And yet something very eerie and ominous happened that evening. At exactly the same time as the Pope left St. Peter’s Basilica and walked to the crèche in St. Peter’s Square, a...

Would Pope Francis say anything about this year’s Vatican nativity scene — which was so clearly meant as a nod to the LGBT lobby — when he paid it a visit on New Year’s Eve? He spoke not a word of course, but instead blessed it and chuckled as a few dignitaries, responsible for what some have called a “hideous” and “sacrilegious” crèche, gave him a guided tour. And yet something very eerie and ominous happened that evening. At exactly the same time as the Pope left St. Peter’s Basilica and walked to the crèche in St. Peter’s Square, a...

With a sense of disgust, but of course not of surprise, Yours Truly reads all those paid bloggers, and paid journalists, who are now trying to minimise the gravity of what has happened two days ago. They all perfectly well know that their grand-grandmothers, and all their ancestors before them, would have been utterly horrified at such an exercise; but they consider themselves smarter than their grand-grandmothers, and are therefore not bothered (or else they are prostitutes; one of the two). I do not know whether the grand-grandmothers were smarter, though they very probably were; what I know is that...

"Vatican, World Bank partner to launch Year of Mercy with St. Peter's 'climate change' light show" The Catholic Church, founded to shed the light of Christ on the world, has quite literally invited the world to shed its light on her. On December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as well as the opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis has allowed climate-change partisans and population-control advocates to project a light show onto the facade and cupola of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome - the most important church in the Catholic world - so as to "inspire...

Continuing his string of appeals calling attention to the plight of persecuted Christians throughout the world, Pope Francis employed forceful language Monday in his midday address to the pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter’s Square, decrying violence against Christians and exhorting the international community not to stand by without taking meaningful action.

Pope Benedict XVI's resignation came like a bolt from the blue overnight. And the weather around the Vatican was eerily appropriate, with lightning striking St Peter's Basilica, one of the holiest Catholic sites, on the same day that Pope Benedict announced he would be stepping down. Global news agency Agence France-Presse published an image of lightning striking the basilica's dome, which it said was taken "on the day the Pope" announced his resignation. AFP said the striking image was captured by photographer Filippo Monteforte, who works for Italian national news and photo agency ANSA. Monteforte's website shows that he has...

excerpt- St. Peter's of Karachi, which opened its doors this month and can fit around 5,000 people, is a sign of the resilience of a faith that has long suffered from state discrimination and attacks by extremists allied with al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke out amid a debate over plans to legalise civil partnerships in Italy, defending traditional marriage in an address to Catholic worshipper. "We know very well how the family based on marriage forms the natural setting for the birth and education of children, and is therefore a guarantee of the future of all humanity," the pope said at his Angelus prayers. A debate is raging in predominantly Catholic, socially conservative, Italy as the government prepares to put forward a bill later this month to grant legal status to unmarried couples regardless of sexual orientation. The plan has...

Here we go yet again. This time we were off for a week in Italy - Rome, Venice, and Milan with our Rick Steve's Travel Guides in hand. Of all the places we've been so far, the books paid off handsomely in Italy. And next to the Swedes up in Kiruna, the Italians are some of the nicest Europeans we've met to date. No wonder so many Americans were there at the same time as we were. We land in Rome in the evening and catch a cab to the hotel. What can you say about Italian cab drivers? After...

Commentary on Psalm 136(137) "A National Hymn of Sorrow" VATICAN CITY, NOV. 30, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave at today's general audience, which he dedicated to a reflection on Psalm 136(137). * * * 1. On this first Wednesday of Advent, a liturgical time of silence, watching and prayer in preparation for Christmas, we meditate on Psalm 136(137), which has become famous in the Latin version of its beginning, "Super flumina Babylonis." The text evokes the tragedy that the Jewish people lived through during the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in the...

The city plans to use its power of eminent domain to seize a neighborhood bar and turn the land over to a Roman Catholic high school, which wants the land to expand its football field. That has civil liberties proponents worried. ``This is one of the most egregious cases of eminent domain in the country,'' Steve Anderson of the Institute for Justice in Washington told The Star-ledger of Newark for Friday's editions. The city is seeking to condemn The Golden Cicada tavern and give the land to St. Peter's Prep, which wants to expand its athletic field. The matter is...

The pastor of a Roman Catholic church has been removed after a church inquiry into allegations he sexually abused a minor 18 years ago. In a letter read over the weekend to parishioners of St. Joseph's Church, Metuchen Bishop Paul Bootkoski said the Rev. John Casey has been removed from his post and all active church ministry. He is accused of molesting a minor when he served as a parochial vicar at St. Peter The Apostle Church in New Brunswick. The bishop noted that Casey denies the allegation. Bootkoski said the diocese conducted its own investigation after law enforcement authorities...

Imagine - people posing as doctors and inspectors, just walking into a hospital and demanding information and patient records. Now the Department of Homeland Security is taking action. The last two hospitals where it happened were in Newton and New Brunswick, New Jersey. This really has federal authorities puzzled - intruders masquerading as doctors and inspectors probing hospital security. But there is no evidence the cases are connected, including two in New Jersey. Hospital officials and security experts say the similarities are disturbing. It happened on Easter Sunday. Three men of middle-eastern descent entered a Sussex County hospital posing as...