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The sisters had gifted the monastery to the Vatican in a last ditch attempt to save their way of life, only to have the Pope forcibly remove and defrock them.(Crisis Magazine) — For more than seven hundred years, the Franciscan monastery of Santa Chiara has stood overlooking the glorious waters of the Amalfi Coast in the town of Ravello, the “city of music” and the “pearl of the Amalfi.” Poor Clares came to Ravello in 1297, just after the death of St. Francis, and the monastery and town have flourished together for almost a thousand years. The monastery grounds, church,...

CA bishop's rebuff typifies 'seamless garment' heterodoxyLOS ANGELES (ChurchMilitant.com) - A California prelate is suggesting that archdiocesan seminarians displeased with Pope Francis should become Protestants. "I'm incensed and I need to give voice to why I am angry," said Los Angeles auxiliary bishop Edward Clark recently in a social media post. "I recently learned that there are seminarians at our archdiocesan seminary who are vocally anti-Pope Francis." Clark was referring to St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California, where he received a master's degree in religion in 1972. His post continued: They [the seminarians] criticize faculty members who are loyal to...

Who is Francis? A prophet for our times? God’s instrument for the renovation of the Church? The precursor of a new springtime of the Faith? A collection of his principal teachings confronted with the Magisterium of the Church can be an excellent aid to accurately judge these questions…

Pope Francis has marked the “day for life” in Italy by adopting the abortion lobby’s euphemism “interruption of pregnancy” in place of language that accurately describes the killing of unborn children. In his message the Holy Father does speak some welcome words, encouraging “courageous educational action in favour of human life” and reminding the gathered crowds that “every life is sacred”. Unfortunately rather than refer to abortion he adopts terminology used by the abortion industry. In fact, the form of words used by Pope Francis is specifically condemned by Pope John Paul II in his encyclical letter Evangelium Vitae:“Especially in...