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Italian bishops’ head attends Ramadan event, raises concern over zero catechism enrollmentsCardinal Matteo Zuppi expressed concern over a lack of catechism enrollments while also taking part in a public Ramadan event in the city.On March 4, Matteo Maria Zuppi, archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, commented on the fact that no children had enrolled in catechism classes in three central parishes of the city, attributing the situation to flawed housing policies and excessively high rents. One day earlier he had participated in a public Ramadan street iftar alongside important political authorities.“Thank you, salam alaikum,” Zuppi said...

Leo XIV: "Not Our Task to Build a Christendom"Today, Leo XIV received a delegation from the ecumenical 'World Council of Churches', reports Oikoumene.org.The delegation included the German lay bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, the Armenian archbishop Vicken Aykazian, the Baptist preacher Merlyn Hyde Riley, and the Protestant preacher Jerry Pillay.According to Pillay, Leo XIV stressed "the need for visible Christian unity, recognising the challenges this presents even within the Roman Catholic Church due to the existence of different and diverse views".Pillay said that Leo XIV affirmed that, "while our task is not to build a Christendom yet Christians must work together in...

Unwise people will say to a parent who has had the marrow ripped out of their souls, having a child die on them, "I understand what you're going through." Oh, you understand? -- that you are feeling discomfort at this situation; but if you were my peer, if you also lost a child, you would never say "I understand", you would have the sense to shut your face and say NOTHING, after you own experience of personally having to fend off all the goody-two-shoes "sympathetic" people who are actually morbidly afraid of death and so have to "stim" (self-stimulate) emotionally...

Grant had roots in both Baptist and Assemblies of God congregations, and went on to seminary to prepare for ministry. While there, he was introduced to the Church Fathers, who had a very different view of Baptism than the one he’d grown up with. Seeing that they treated it as a sacrament made him wonder if his view of Communion was also out of step with historic Christianity. After serving seven years in ministry, as both a children’s and student pastor, Grant ended up coming home to the Catholic Church.

Justin Li grappled with questions about justice, morality, and the meaning of life. Li became a believer through a campus Bible study shortly after he began attending its meetings. Li worshiped in an evangelical church that held contemporary services shaped by joyful, fast-paced praise songs. But the upbeat worship music, coupled with his busy work schedule, “made his heart even less quiet,” said Li. Then he stumbled upon Ancient Faith Radio, a digital network of broadcasts offering Eastern Orthodox liturgical music and teaching. The melodies he listened to were simple, solemn, and contemplative. “It felt like another world,”. Li began...

Human fraternity is an urgent necessity, Pope writes in Zayed Award messageIn a message for the International Day of Human Fraternity and the awarding of the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity, Pope Leo XIV paid tribute to “what is most precious and universal in our humanity: our fraternity, that unbreakable bond which unites every human being, created in the image of God.”Both the day and the award recall the Document on Human Fraternity, signed on February 4, 2019, by Pope Francis and Sunni Muslim leader Ahmed Al-Tayeb, the Grand Imam of Al Azhar in Egypt, during Pope Francis’s apostolic journey...

[Catholic Caucus] Leo XIV and the Unfathomable Evil of Promoting False Christian UnityIn a Jan 25, 2026 homily, Pope Leo XIV spoke on the unity of all Christians: “Yes, we share the same faith in the one and only God. We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it and make it visible.” There must be a return to true Catholic teaching.<As a convert to Catholicism, I still recall the way in which the Church’s teaching about sanctifying grace and mortal sin fundamentally changed the way I thought about life. Looking back at the copy of Baltimore...

Guest Article: The Crisis of Modern EcumenismThe modern ecumenical movement, particularly in its post-conciliar manifestation, has adopted a dangerous illusion: that the various Christian denominations represent equally valid paths to God, differing merely in accidental rather than essential characteristics. This irenic approach, pursued with increasing fervour since the Second Vatican Council, fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the Church established by Christ; the Catholic Church, built sub Petro et cum Petro. Pope Pius XI, in his 1928 encyclical Mortalium Animos, provided a prophetic critique of this very tendency, warning against a false irenicism that would compromise the integrity of Catholic...

Pope Leo says different Christian faiths are ‘already one’<Pope Leo's claim directly contradicts Catholic teaching that Christian unity is grounded in shared faith, the sacraments, and governance.Pope Leo XIV concluded the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity by declaring that different Christian faiths are already “one.”“We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it and make it visible!” Leo said in his Sunday homily on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul at the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls in Rome.As Vatican News put it, he stressed how “different Christian religions share the same...

A recent statement was issued by the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem on Unity and Representation of the Christian Communities in the Holy Land on January 17, 2026. It was filled with the spirit of arrogance, power and a desire to control. Why do I say that? Well, they had to claim that they were the “Patriarchs and Heads of all the churches” seven times in a document that only had around twenty sentences! In the article they reiterated that they alone represent all the churches and their flocks in any and all matters pertaining to “Christian”...

Pope Leo XIV invokes Leo XIII as early champion of ecumenismWhile Leo XIII’s push for Christian unity calls on adherence to Catholic doctrine and papal primacy, Leo XIV emphasizes an approach of ‘legitimate diversity’ rooted in the Nicene Creed.Pope Leo XIV marked the start of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity by invoking the legacy of Pope Leo XIII, whom he presented as an ecumenical forerunner.On January 18, at the conclusion of the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV announced the opening of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, encouraged Catholics to...

Conciliar Catechesis Watch: IntroductionOn Wednesday, Leo launched a new initiative with an Introduction to his planned General Audience series consisting of catechesis on the documents of Vatican II. For how long this weekly series will go on is anyone’s guess, but it seems likely to go on up to and perhaps beyond Lent.In any case, beginning today, the akaCatholic Podcast will respond to each of Leo’s weekly catechetic sessions with a closer look at what he had to say and how it compares and contrasts with what the Church has always taught.Beneath the video, a transcript will be provided for...

Iranians begrudgingly accepted Islam but refused to accept Arabic as its supposedly divine language. Scholars have argued that it took almost four hundred years before Arabs conquered the entire Iranian empire. In those centuries of turmoil, Iranian Christians and Jews—like Zoroastrians who had been the dominant faith in the empire—were often subjected to the terrors of a local pious Muslim bully. By the fifteenth century, Shiism—one of the main branches of Islam—forcefully became the “state” religion of Iran, but even that did not altogether destroy Christian life in the country. Assyrians and Armenians continued to live in parts of the...

Christian actress Letitia Wright may be best known for her role as Princess Shuri of Wakanda in Marvel’s Black Panther, but she gives all praise and glory to the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Recently, at a Tulsa, Oklahoma ministry conference, the 25-year-old told the gripping story of how God saved her at one of the lowest points in her life. “I wasn’t always a Christian, and I went through a period in my life when acting was my God, and I really worshiped it,” said Wright during a live panel discussion hosted by Pastor Michael Todd of Transformation Church....

The Diabolical Insanity of the Vatican’s New Book About Methodist and Pseudo-Catholic DialogueThe Vatican recently published a short book about the progress of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Methodists, "We Believe in One God". This recent work of diabolical disorientation ought to be a wake-up call for all serious Catholics to unambiguously denounce the false ecumenical movement that has thrived for sixty years.As reported by OSV News, the Vatican publishing house recently released a short book about the progress of ecumenical dialogue between Catholics and Methodists, We Believe in One God: Sixty Years of Methodists and Catholics Walking Together:“Celebrating almost...

I grew tired of always having to scramble around to find my favorite Carols, so I took time to gather them onto a single page. Then I went looking for better versions. And then I thought that family and friends might enjoy having their own copy, too, and they’ve been enthusiastic. So, then I thought of my FRiends. These aren’t the secular chestnuts-roasting, fire-so-delightful carols for playing in the background while you do other things (with a couple of exceptions). When you hear/feel/sense the Holy Spirit nudging and inviting you to spend some special, personal time interacting with the Christmas...

The purification of the temple and city. Other exploits of Judas. His victory over Timotheus. 1 But Machabeus, and they that were with him, by the protection of the Lord, recovered the temple and the city again. 2 But he threw down the altars, which the heathens had set up in the streets, as also the temples of the idols. 3 And having purified the temple, they made another altar: and taking fire out of the fiery stones, they offered sacrifices after two years, and set forth incense, and lamps, and the loaves of proposition. 4 And when they had...

The wretched end, and fruitless repentance of king Antiochus. 1 At that time Antiochus returned with dishonour out of Persia. 2 For he had entered into the city called Persepolis, and attempted to rob the temple, and to oppress the city: but the multitude running together to arms, put them to flight: and so it fell out that Antiochus being put to flight returned with disgrace. 3 Now when he was come about Ecbatana, he received the news of what had happened to Nicanor and Timotheus. 4 And swelling with anger he thought to revenge upon the Jews the injury...

Judas Machabeus gathering an army gains divers victories. 1 But Judas Machabeus, and they that were with him, went privately into the towns: and calling together their kinsmen and friends, and taking unto them such as continued in the Jews' religion, they assembled six thousand men. 2 And they called upon the Lord that he would look upon his people that was trodden down by all, and would have pity on the temple, that was defiled by the wicked: 3 That he would have pity also upon the city that was destroyed, that was ready to be made even with...

By Msgr. Charles PopeWhat is the perfect gift? We tend to answer this question more in terms of what we want, but today’s Gospel (Matthew 11:2-11) teaches us that the perfect gift is what God is offering. One of the goals of the spiritual journey is to come to value, more than our latest desire, more than our perceived need—more than all else—what God offers. In reviewing today’s Gospel, I am going to take a stance regarding St. John the Baptist that I realize is not without controversy. The Gospel opens with John (who is in prison) sending his disciples...