Father Stanley Rother, the Oklahoma-born martyr who served as a priest in Guatemala, will be beatified in Oklahoma City on Sept. 23, 2017. The beatification announcement was made by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City on March 13. Fr. Rother was a priest of the archdiocese. In December 2016, Pope Francis officially acknowledged Fr. Rother’s martyrdom, making him the first recognized martyr … Read More
10 Destinations for Spiritual R&R
(Busted Halo) We’ve picked out our top 10 Catholic sites to visit (nine in the United States and one in Canada). Add the one closest to your vacation destination into your itinerary, or, if you live nearby, just plan a day trip, or a long weekend. These places offer breathtaking art and architecture, and inspirational histories, along with their obvious … Read More
The adventure awaits: Pilgrimage to Alaska
Adding to the more than 70 national shrines in the United States, the St. Thérèse Shrine in Juneau, Alaska was added by the U.S. bishops to the national list on her Oct. 1 feast day this year. “We are pleased to have the Conference of Bishops recognize the Shrine of St. Thérèse as a National Shrine,” stated Bishop Edward J. … Read More
Christ at the Center for Olympic Athletes
Katie Ledecky has become the “Michael Jordan” of swimming. After winning a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics, Ledecky proceeded to set 12 world records. She won her first gold medal of the Rio Olympics and set a new world record, crushing her old record for the 400-meter freestyle. She has done what most swimmers only dream of doing. … Read More
Real Jewel in Pope’s Exhortation Comes on Married Love
(Crux) Papal pundits are already entertaining themselves endlessly with the pope’s new letter on marriage and family, Amoris Laetitia, parsing each paragraph that touches on vexed questions and struggling to determine what, if anything, has changed as a result. The danger of course, is that bloggers will hungrily scour the document looking for declarations to support their favorite causes, and … Read More
Pope Appoints New Vatican Ambassador to the U.S.
(CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has appointed French-born Archbishop Christophe Pierre as the Vatican ambassador to the U.S., replacing Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Holy See press office announced Tuesday. The appointment of the new Vatican ambassador – known as an apostolic nuncio – comes after Archbishop Viganò reached the retirement age of 75 on Jan. 16 of this year. The … Read More
Sanctity of Life Day
(Aleteia) The Feast of the Annunciation, which commemorates the event in salvation history of Christ taking on flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, has been celebrated in recent years as the International Day of the Unborn Child. And as the Annunciation was moved this year to April 4 because Good Friday fell on March 25, many in … Read More
5 Ways to Stay Sane During Election Season
Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP recently wrote an article for Aleteia outlining five ways to stay sane during this upcoming year of political endorsements and debates. Take some time to reflect on these five things and challenge yourself to create a sixth way to remain sane during this election year. How are you staying focused on this Lenten season despite … Read More
Regardless of your political preferences, Boehner’s witness to the ‘power of the Holy Spirit’ will amaze you
You may or may not care for him as a politician. You may or may not care for him as a Republican. You may or may not care for him as a Senator. You may or may not care for him as a man. But as a Catholic, you have to respect for a man of his position and notoriety who … Read More
Catholic Priest: “Perversion of the Bible” when Methodist & Episcopalian Clergy Bless Abortion Clinic
A leading Catholic priest who is intimately involved in pro-life work is outraged that clergy from the United Methodist and Episcopalian Church would lead a prayer rally “blessing” a local abortion clinic in Cleveland. As LifeNews reported, in Ohio, United Methodist Church pastor, Reverend Laura Young, says she believes pro-life protesters in front of Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities … Read More
How the Catholic Church is fighting loan sharks in Texas
(CNA, by Mary Rezac) Lenders charging exorbitant rates on payday loans in Arlington, Texas have a new force to contend with in their fight against regulation: the bishops of the Catholic Church. Last week, the Texas Catholic Conference – which serves as the public policy voice for the Catholic bishops of the state – announced it would join several local … Read More
Full text: Pope Francis’ historic address to congress
Mr. Vice-President, Mr. Speaker, Honorable Members of Congress, Dear Friends, I am most grateful for your invitation to address this Joint Session of Congress in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” I would like to think that the reason for this is that I too am a son of this great continent, from which we … Read More
‘Complex’ trip to Cuba, U.S. will be Pope’s longest, spokesman says
(CNS) — Pope Francis’ 10th foreign trip will be the longest of his pontificate and, with stops in Cuba, three U.S. cities and the United Nations, it also will be a “very complex trip,” the papal spokesman said. Briefing reporters about the trip, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the plans were “enriched” after Pope Francis agreed to go … Read More
Cardinal Dolan: The dignity of work & the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral
(NYP, by Cardinal Timothy Dolan) Throughout the last three years of hard work in the repair and restoration of our beloved and historic St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I’ve come to have a lot of admiration for our craftsmen and women, who are true artisans in this delicate job. One day, walking around inspecting the progress, I asked one of them, “What’s your specific … Read More
Bishop-elect Barron on Stephen Colbert, GQ, the Late Show, Suffering and Providence
Here is the GQ article to which Bishop-elect Barron refers to below: It was early July, about nine weeks before the debut of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and we were sitting in his temporary office above a BMW dealership on the far west side of Manhattan. He looked very tired, and he was apologizing (unnecessarily) for rambling on … Read More