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This prophetic 1940s Catholic magazine can help end the crisis in the Church March 4, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) —  One of the worst lies about the Catholic Church as it existed before Vatican II is that it was rigid, legalistic, and imbued with clericalism. Anyone who’s read pre-conciliar papal writings on Catholic Action (see here, here, and here) knows that such charges are entirely bogus. Catholics living in the late 19th and early 20th century were anything but unthinking, rosary-counting dullards. (Even if they were, at least they prayed and didn’t dissent from Church doctrine – something that can’t be...

On this Quasimodo (Dominica in albis, Low, and Divine Mercy) Sunday, I am shocked at the pusillanimity of some of the so-called traditionalists in the Church. A great gift has been given to the whole of the Church with Saints John XXIII and John Paul II and yet, some traditionalists foment an attitude of ”hunkering down” and the “enduring” the authentic joy of the Church on this day. Likewise, other traditionalist types ask why Blessed Pius IX or Ven. Pius XII has not been canonized. It is one thing to ask questions such as the latter which are legitimate;...

This past weekend, Father Barron delivered the keynote talk at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. He laid out seven keys to the New Evangelization, which include things like "lead with beauty" and "don't dumb down the message." Today we share the full video of his talk along with a summary by Catholic evangelist Marcel LeJeune. Thanks to Marcel LeJeune, Assistant Director of Campus Ministry at Texas A&M University, for sharing this summary over at the Aggie Catholics blog. 1. Lead with the beautiful It's less threatening. We are a beautiful religion. Truth/Goodness make people defensive. You can come...

Just two little words in a carefully written text of the Second Vatican Council carry tremendous significance in terms of the emphasis that text was meant to convey. Two little words, so easily overlooked, add urgency to the task for evangelization, and usher in a reminder of why the task of the Church in announcing Jesus Christ is so critical.What are these words? Simply these:“But often….”Perhaps you are less than amazed and wonder what they could have to do with evangelization, let alone urgency. These words occur in a critical text of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium # 16,...

I am gathered with over 200 brother priests from the Archdiocese for a convocation on the New Evangelization. And we are blessed to have Dr. Ralph Martin as our Keynote speaker.Of course some wonder at the title “new” in the New Evangelization. On the one hand it is new in the sense that we are having now to reach back to once Christian cultures and people and repropose the gospel. The is a “new” (and unfortunate) development that is in a way harder than opening new “virginal” territory for the Kingdom. The ancient Western world was as a virgin awaiting...

When Pope John Paul II described the New Evangelization back in 1983, he said it required new ardor, new methods and new expressions. Since then, perhaps no priest has embodied those qualities like Father Robert Barron of Chicago. Through his “Word on Fire” ministry he has used blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, websites and mobile apps to spread the faith. He’s evangelized the culture through movie reviews and news commentary. And he released the epic “Catholicism” film series which has been seen across the world on both Catholic and secular television. Fr. Barron Father Robert Barron. Courtesy of Word on Fire...

As the Church throughout the world prepares for the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, led by Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, has issued a 31-page statement entitled “Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization.” “The New Evangelization seeks to invite modern man and culture into a relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church,” the document states. “The New Evangelization strives to engage our culture and to help us draw our inspiration from the Gospel. The New Evangelization calls all Catholics first to be evangelized and...

A politcal scientist and the Blessed John Paul II's biographer George Weigel suggests that the Catholic Church should look forward instead of constantly remembering history. His article is addressed to the Polish Catholic friends but the same message can be also directed to the Catholic Church in the West. I think that this is a key paragraph to this article. Polish Catholicism should adopt this future-oriented stance. Remembering the John Paul II years should now be a remembering in service to the future. The 21st century Church in Poland must take up John Paul’s challenge in the 1991 encyclical Redemptoris...

...John Paul II called for a "New Evangelization." Pope Benedict XVI has made this a central pillar of his pontificate. He erected a Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization tasked with evangelizing countries where the Gospel was announced centuries ago, but where its presence in peoples' daily life seems to be all but lost. Pope Benedict established a new dicastery (Vatican Office) and underscored the seriousness with which he views this mission of the New Evangelization. Cultures formerly infused with a Christian culture are now regularly called post-Christian and understandably so. In April 2009 John Meachem, then of Newsweek magazine,...

The Knights of the Holy Eucharist represents part of the resurgence of vocations in the Catholic Church developing from the “new evangelization” promoted by Pope John Paul II and continued by Pope Benedict XVI. Its members have as their primary focus the fostering of reverence for the Blessed Sacrament as well as the assistance and protection of the nuns of the monastery. Along with maintaining the grounds and facilities, the Knights host clergy, brothers, and seminarians on retreat; serve as acolytes at Shrine liturgies; and provide assistance for pilgrims. Community members live the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience...

WARSAW, Poland — Poland could be Europe's first "red state". "New evangelization"It was the late pope's fervent hope that the intense spirituality of his native Poland would spark a "new evangelization" of Western Europe. During most of his papacy, there was scant sign of that happening. But more recently Poland has emerged at the fore of a fledgling movement to restore Christian values to Europe. Beginning in 2003, the Polish government led the push — ultimately unsuccessful — to include some reference to Christianity in the new EU constitution. Aleksander Kwasniewski, the reformed communist who was Poland's president at the...

VATICAN CITY, Vatican, January 10 (CNA) - The Pope's Angelus reflections today, the feast of the Baptism of Jesus, highlighted this sacrament which he said the Evangelists considered as the start of Jesus' messianic ministry. "Christ's mission, thus begun, was fulfilled in the paschal mystery in which, having died and risen, He took away the sin of the world." "The mission of every Christian also begins with Baptism," said the Holy Father. "The rediscovery of Baptism, through appropriate itineraries of adult catechesis, is thus an important aspect of the new evangelization.” “Renewing in a more mature fashion one's own adherence...