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A Catholic priest, who was arrested for allegedly groping a woman in October 2018, has been removed from the Diocese of Austin after the diocese said he "failed to maintain proper boundaries with an adult" in an unrelated incident in February. According to the affidavit for the arrest of Gerold Langsch, 75, the victim suffers from several medical conditions and was put in hospice care after falling ill from diabetes. However, police said the victim, who is still alive, was fully aware of what was happening when she made the allegations. Police said the victim's ex-husband contacted the Knights of...

Islam isn't just at the heart of the terror threat posed by the Islamic State. The religion is also contributing to the other major crisis plaguing the globe: the spread of Ebola. Washington and its media stenographers won't tell you this, lest they look intolerant, but Islamic burial rituals are a key reason why health officials can't contain the spread of the deadly disease in West Africa. Many of the victims of Ebola in the three hot-spot nations there — Sierra Leone and Guinea, as well as neighboring Liberia — are Muslim. Roughly 73% of Sierra Leone's and about 85%...

Featured Term (selected at random:ANTIOCHENE RITE A ritual used throughout the Patriarchate of Antioch. The pure Antiochene, in its oldest form, eliminated the Pater Noster and the names of the saints in the Mass. This form was early displaced by the Liturgy of St. James from Jerusalem, which became the ritual of all Western Syria. Originally Greek, the Liturgy of St. James was later translated into Syriac. The Greek version is now used twice a year by the Orthodox; the Syriac version by the Jacobites in Syria and Palestine and by the Syrian Catholics. A Romanized form of this liturgy...

Featured Term (selected at random:BYZANTINE RITE  Ritual and ecclesiastical policy followed by the Church of Constantinople. The second most widely used rite after the Roman, it has three forms: 1. the Liturgy of St. James the Elder, modified by St. Basil and named after him; 2. St. John Chrysostom's later modification, which became the common Eucharistic service of Constantinople. Though it did not displace the original St. Basil's, it did limit its use; 3. the liturgy of the Presanctified, essentially the distribution of the Blessed Sacrament consecrated on the preceding Sunday. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John...

Featured Term (selected at random:GALLICAN RITE A ritual that prevailed from the fourth to the eighth centuries in Gaul. Its origin is disputed, but the ritual was most likely introduced by the first missionaries. It differed from the Roman Rite in the arrangement of the liturgical year, the elaborate ceremonial in the offering of the bread and wine, and in the fact that all Mass prayers were variable daily. Some liturgies today at Milan and Toledo bear resemblance to the Gallican rites. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with...

The Pope’s ambition, a powerful blend of the Novus Ordo and the Old Rite, could sweep the Church There are too many difficulties attending both the Novus Ordo and the Old Rite By William Oddie on Friday, 20 May 2011 Cardinal Walter Brandmüller celebrated the Extraordinary Form Mass at St Peter's Basilica on Sunday (CNS photo) An extremely interesting story by John Thavis – which appears currently on the Herald’s homepage under the headline “Pope’s ‘reform of the reform’ in liturgy to continue” – reports what seems to me a potentially wondrous proposed advance. But will it happen? There is...

Featured Term (selected at random):GALLICAN RITE A ritual that prevailed from the fourth to the eighth centuries in Gaul. Its origin is disputed, but the ritual was most likely introduced by the first missionaries. It differed from the Roman Rite in the arrangement of the liturgical year, the elaborate ceremonial in the offering of the bread and wine, and in the fact that all Mass prayers were variable daily. Some liturgies today at Milan and Toledo bear resemblance to the Gallican rites. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with...

Priest attacked, guilty of celebrating the Latin Mass ... Tue, 26/07/2011 - 15:24 "You have been tough, but we will smash your head. Signed, Your friend Satan". That was one of several threatening messages sent to Father Hernán García Pardo, parish priest of San Michele, in Ronta [Mugello region of the Province of Florence, Tuscany]. His fault [was] that of celebrating the Latin Mass.... The warnings, which had been recurrent for some time, had not made the priest, who despite everything has continued to say Mass according to the ancient rite, give up. The last chapter [took place] last Wednesday,...

It may surprise most people to know that there are many different rites within the Catholic Church. Before discussing these rites it is important to note that different sources disagree on exactly what constitutes a rite and exactly how many there are.A rite represents an ecclesiastical tradition about how the sacraments are to be celebrated. As the early Church grew and spread, it celebrated the sacraments as would be best understood and received in the context of individual cultures, without ever changing their essential form and matter. The early Church sought to evangelize in the major cultural centers of the...

Featured Term (selected at random):RUTHENIAN RITE The liturgy used by the Ruthenian Catholics in Poland, the United States, and elsewhere. Said in the Slavonic language, it differs but slightly from the Byzantine Rite in the Orthdox Church. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

THE RITES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH    It may surprise most people to know that there are many different rites within the Catholic Church. Before discussing these rites it is important to note that different sources disagree on exactly what constitutes a rite and exactly how many there are.   A rite represents an ecclesiastical tradition about how the sacraments are to be celebrated. As the early Church grew and spread, it celebrated the sacraments as would be best understood and received in the context of individual cultures, without ever changing their essential form and matter. The early Church sought to...

How Did the Catholic Church Get Her Name? by Kenneth D. WhiteheadThe Creed which we recite on Sundays and holy days speaks of one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. As everybody knows, however, the Church referred to in this Creed is more commonly called just the Catholic Church. It is not, by the way, properly called the Roman Catholic Church, but simply the Catholic Church.The term Roman Catholic is not used by the Church herself; it is a relatively modern term, and one, moreover, that is confined largely to the English language. The English-speaking bishops at the First Vatican...

B369 Rayburn House Office Building, US House of Representatives Welcoming Remarks: Dr.Trita Parsi, President, National Iranian American Council 12:30 pm - 2:30 pm PANEL DISCUSSION, Q&A Alex Arriaga: Deputy Director for Advocacy and Director of Government Relations Amnesty International Joe Stork: Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa Human Rights Watch Laura Secor: The New Yorker magazine David Denehy (Invited) Senior Advisor U.S. Department of State Dr. John Tirman: Executive Director, Center for International Studies Massachusetts Institute of Technology Moderator Trita Parsi: President, National Iranian American Council

by Fr. William Saunders Other Articles by Fr. William Saunders Traveling the Path to Catholicism 04/12/06 Recently I saw a picture showing the Rite of Election at the cathedral. Would you please explain more about the Rite of Election and RCIA? When I was growing up, we did not have such a program. The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) is a formal program of catechetical instruction, ascetical practice (prayer and spirituality), and liturgies whereby adults — called catechumens — are formally admitted into the Church and receive the sacraments of initiation — baptism, confirmation, and holy Eucharist. (The sacrament...

Click on the link above the watch and hear the Prayers by the Eastern Churches at the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

Deposition, Funeral and Burial Rites of Pope John Paul II Deposition of the Body of the Roman Pontiff in the Coffin Before the Funeral Mass the body will be deposited in a coffin of Cyprus wood. It will the be closed in the presence of the Cardinal Camerlengo, the heads of each Order of Cardinals (Cardinal Bishops, Cardinal Priest, Cardinal Deacons), the Cardinal Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, the Cardinal Secretary of State, the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, the Prefect of the Pontifical Household, the Almoner of the Supreme Pontiff, the Vice-Camerlengo,...

For the past several years I have witnessed an ongoing crisis of identity within the Roman Catholic Church, which is evident even on the campus of Franciscan University. Often reduced to the battle between "Conservatives" versus "Progressives" or "Traditionalists" versus "Charismatics," the issues involved are multifaceted and complex. I have tried to make my own contribution to this debate, with varying degrees of success. Now I'd like to address it from a new perspective, i.e. as a kind of outsider, for that is indeed what I have become. I am an Eastern Christian. While gladly submitting to the authority of...

Why do priests use incense at Mass? — A reader in AlexandriaIncense is an aromatic substance which is the resin from certain trees. When burned over charcoal, the incense produces a sweet smelling aroma. To make the smoke thicker and to enhance the fragrance, sometimes other perfumes are blended with the incense.The use of incense in the ancient world was common, especially in religious rites where it was used to keep demons away. Herodotus, the Greek historian, recorded that it was popular among the Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians. In Judaism, incense was included in the thanksgiving offerings of oil, grain,...

It's last rites for Braveheart... at last STUART MacDONALD HE RESTS in the hearts and minds of Scots as an icon of the nation’s fighting spirit yet Braveheart legend William Wallace has never been granted a burial place fit for a national hero. But now, on the 700th anniversary of his gruesome death, Wallace is to finally get a permanent resting place at the Lanarkshire church where he is believed to have married his sweetheart. However, first there will be an extraordinary re-enactment of the last days of Wallace’s life which led up to his horrific death. Wallace author David...

BOSTON -- As millions of Catholics prepare for the traditional midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, the Boston Archdiocese is making an unusual plea to parishioners. NewsCenter 5's Jorge Quiroga reported that church leaders are asking anyone with cold or flu symptoms to take certain precautions and avoid some rituals. The announcement comes days after two elderly men on Cape Cod died of flu complications. But public health officials warn against overreactions saying the cases are not unusual considering the ages of the victims, 89 and 90. Parishioners attending Christmas Mass are urged not to shake hands as a sign of...