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Commissioned by Pope Paul VI in 1963, the Papal Audience Hall in Vatican City was inaugurated in 1971. But it doesn't take you long to realize the whole thing, inside and outside, is a giant reptile. When the pope stands and addresses his audience, he speaks from the snake's mouth. How is that for symbolism?

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on recent remarks made by Russian president Vladimir Putin: Russian president Vladimir Putin is making some waves with his recent statement equating communism to Christianity. He said that “communist ideology is very similar to Christianity,” crediting Soviet communism for preaching “freedom, brotherhood, equality.” Though he admitted that religious persecution took place under Soviet rule, he nonetheless lauded it for its ideological commitment to these ideals. Pope Francis himself said in 2016 that it has been noted many times that “it is the communists who think like Christians.” By that he meant the communists profess...

The global elite has little idea what afflicts the poor, says Pope Francis. He's right ---but that observation sometimes applies to him, too. In his US visit, the pope is already creating headlines about the urgent need to respond to climate change. Invoking the need to "protect the vulnerable in our world," he calls for an end to humanity’s reliance on fossil fuels. But do the world’s poor believe that carbon cuts are a top priority? Since March 2013, the United Nations has sought citizens’ ranking of 16 policy priorities. More than 8 million people have participated, with nearly 3...

Papal Visit - Ominous Harbinger Of Things To Come Several hours ago, the pope returned to the Vatican from the United States. We all got a glimpse into what we may expect from this pontificate - and it ain't pretty! We heard some snippets of exhortation to respect innocent life, but they were minuscule in comparison with the shillings for the allowance of illegal immigration, climate change, death penalty, arms trade, etc: all the talking points that had progressives (Obama included) waxing giddy with joy. Jim Sedlak of American Life League penned his opinion of some of the pope's addresses,...

The preparations for the pope's imminent visit are developing into quite a "dog-and-pony" show, with all the tee shirts, caps, cardboard cut-outs, etc. Lots of excitement is afoot - so much so that many are becoming oblivious to the storm that is about to erupt at the Ordinary Synod of the Family this coming October. Some of us are raising the alarm. Ladies and gentlemen, there is real possibility - if not probability - for schism to result from this synod. This tocsin is also being sounded by Cardinals. Cardinal Reinhard Marx is on record of favoring the distribution of...

SANTA CRUZ, Bolivia (AP) — Pope Francis denounced the "throwaway" culture of today's society that discards anyone who is unproductive as he celebrated his first public Mass in Bolivia on Thursday, one of the key days of his South American pilgrimage. It was to culminate with a summit of farmers, fishermen and indigenous whose causes have long been championed by history's first Latin American pope.

CNN is touting a papal revolution while arguing that there is a theological framework for ordaining women to the diaconate. In an article which may be found here, Jay Parini writes,"...the early church had female deacons, and St. Paul put great trust in female leaders, such as Lydia and Phoebe (a deacon with whom he entrusted his famous Letter to the Romans)." Wrong Jay. Gerhard Ludwig Muller, Professor of Dogmatic Theology in Munich, explains in his scholarly work entitled "Priesthood and Diaconate" (Ignatius Press) that the consecration of deaconesses in the early Church was not an ordination of women to...

“We are not heading for an eternal void and an eternal silence but we are on our way to an encounter, an encounter with Him who created us and loves us more than mother and father.” (Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, see here). Only a delusional mind could advance such a hypothesis. At a time when children are being slaughtered in the womb, governments are promoting sodomy and so-called "gay marriage," terrorism and other forms of violence are on the rise, there is general immorality with people engaging in and condoning various mortal sins, and the Churches are emptying, we are supposed...

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Featured Term (selected at random:BULLARIUM  Various private collections of papal bulls and other pontifical documents. The authority of bullaria is simply that of the individual documents. The best known are those published by Cherubini in 1586; the "Luxembourg Bullarium," said to have been printed at Geneva (1527-30); the "Roman Bullarium," published by Mainardi (1733-62); and the "Turin Bullarium" (1857-85). (Etym. Latin bulla, seal.) All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Labour MP David Lammy has apologised after accusing the BBC of being racist following its tweet which said "LIVE VIDEO: Chimney of Sistine Chapel as conclave votes for #Pope - will smoke be black or white?" Lammy replied saying: "This tweet from the BBC is crass and unnecessary. Do we really need silly innuendo about the race of the next Pope?" However, after receiving several messages alerting him to the fact that black smoke appears from a Vatican chimney when no decision has been made, and white smoke alerts the public to the election of a new Pope, the politician...

The Italian daily newspaper La Republica said the pope decided to resign on 17 December – the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals delegated to look into the so-called "Vatileaks" affair. Last May Pope Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and charged with stealing leaked papal correspondence that depicted the Vatican as a seething hotbed of intrigue and infighting. The newspaper said the cardinals described a number of factions, including one whose members were "united by sexual orientation". It added that some Vatican officials had been subjected to "external influence" from laymen with whom they had links...

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sep 30, 2011 / 12:51 am (CNA).- A leading Russian Orthodox official says the Eastern Orthodox churches have yet to resolve the question of authority among themselves, a condition for future progress on the issue of the papacy. “I would say that there are certain divergences, and there are different positions, of the Orthodox churches on the question of the primacy,” said Metropolitan Archbishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Volokolamsk, head of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, in a Vatican Radio interview following his Sept. 29 meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo. “As we...

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2010 / 01:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II and the episcopal conferences of the United Kingdom to visit in September, according to the spokesman of the Holy See. While the Pope's stop in the house of parliament has been confirmed, the most anticipated moment of the apostolic visit will take place on its final day.The Holy See's spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, officially announced the trip in a Monday statement from the press office. This confirms what Pope Benedict had already told the bishops of England and Wales...

Twice-divorced former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani took Communion at a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict on Saturday, breaching rules that bar those who remarry outside the Church from doing so. As he left New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral with his third wife, Judith, the failed presidential candidate confirmed to Reuters that he took Communion from a priest. Asked if he was uncomfortable with having broken the Church ban on the divorced and remarried taking Communion, Giuliani said, "No." The Church does not recognize divorce and teaches that divorced Catholics are still married to their earlier partner unless the...

The solemn papal Mass was suspended by the cataclysm of Venti Settembre. From 20 September, 1870, until 1 January, 1888, the silver trumpets were silent in the Vatican basilica: the Sovereign Pontiff no longer offered the Holy Sacrifice at the tomb of the Apostle, and the throne of the Domnus apostolicus remained empty. The jubilee of the priesthood of Leo XIII (1878-1903) on 1 January, 1888, afforded an occasion for the resumption of the solemn Mass. It was not, however, until 11 February, 1929, that the ‘Roman question’ came to be settled, and the Vatican State was recognised by Italy.It...

Preacher Draws On Work of V.S. Solovyov VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Antichrist is the reduction of Christianity to an ideology, instead of a personal encounter with the Savior, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending. Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, delivered that message during a meditation Tuesday, drawing on the work of Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov. The cardinal's meditation came during the weeklong Spiritual Exercises being attended by the Pope and members of the Roman Curia. The retreat ends this Saturday. The Holy Father suspended his usual meetings, including the...

Iranian leader urges more papal protests By LEE KEATH, 29 minutes ago CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Iraq warned Pope Benedict XVI on Monday that its war against Christianity and the West will go on until Islam takes over the world, and Iran's supreme leader called for more protests over the pontiff's remarks on Islam. Protests broke out in South Asia and Indonesia, with angry Muslims saying Benedict's statement of regret a day earlier did not go far enough. In southern Iraq, demonstrators carrying black flags burned an effigy of the pope. Islamic leaders around the world issued more condemnations...

Prayers from the Raccolta, 1957 edition, reprinted by Loreto Publications, 2004 385 Most holy Virgin and Mother, whose soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the Passion of thy divine Son, and who in His glorious Resurrection was filled with never-ending joy at His triumph; obtain for us who call upon thee, so to be partakers in the adversities of Holy Church and the sorrows of the Sovereign Pontiff, as to be found worthy to rejoice with them in the consolations for which we pray, in the charity and peace of the same Christ our Lord. Amen. 511[A...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -- Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi says he will not attend a meeting of European politicians with Pope Benedict this month after opposition leaders accused the Vatican of meddling in politics. Berlusconi had been expected to go to an audience with members of the European People's Party but the announcement had sparked uproar amongst the opposition who said he should not be meeting the pope so close to the April 9-10 elections.... The center-left opposition had accused Berlusconi of looking to transform the audience at the end of March into a papal blessing for the centre-right coalition. Throughout...