Catholic News Agency, Nicolás de Cárdenas: On Nov. 26, 1504, Queen Isabella of Spain — known as “the Catholic” monarch — died, and more than 500 years later, 133 Masses were celebrated in her memory in thanksgiving for her life … Continue reading
Category: News
Vatican cancels Pope Francis’ trip to climate conference in Dubai, citing ongoing illness
Catholic News Agency, Daniel Payne: Pope Francis will not attend the United Nations COP28 climate conference in Dubai this week due to his continuing struggles with lung inflammation stemming from influenza, the Vatican said on Tuesday. The Holy See Press … Continue reading
Report: Pope Francis Plans to Remove Cardinal Burke’s Salary and Vatican Apartment Over Perceived Church ‘Disunity’
National Catholic Register, Edward Pentin: Multiple sources are reporting that Pope Francis is planning on withdrawing Cardinal Raymond Burke’s Rome residence and salary because he sees him as working against the unity of the Church, although the Vatican has yet … Continue reading
Synod on Synodality: New Springtime or Pandora’s Box?
National Catholic Register, Edward Pentin: The first of two general assemblies of the Synod on Synodality that was completed last month was, as expected, fraught with plenty of acrimony and contention. Eagerly awaited by some, thoroughly dreaded by others, the … Continue reading
Thanksgiving: another sort of holy day
Catholic Culture, Phil Lawler: Some years ago, an English friend shocked me by suggesting that the Coronation of a new British sovereign should be recognized as the eighth sacrament of the Church. I admired his patriotic zeal, but the theological … Continue reading
The Vatican’s statements on the German Synodal Way: a timeline
Catholic News Agency, Hannah Brockhaus: In a striking personal intervention, Pope Francis has written a letter to four German Catholic laywomen who quit the German Synodal Way earlier this year. In the letter, published in the German newspaper Welt on … Continue reading
Synodality and the Strickland case
Catholic Culture, Phil Lawler: After a month of Vatican insistence on listening to all perspectives, it is ironic, to say the least, that the next big news story was the removal of an American bishop, apparently for talking too much. … Continue reading
U.S. bishops express strong support for proposal to name Newman a doctor of the Church
Catholic News Agency, Jonah McKeown: Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, was one of several U.S. bishops who spoke passionately in support this week of a proposal to name the 19th-century English cardinal St. John Henry Newman a “doctor of … Continue reading
Welcome candor from the US bishops’ conference
Catholic Culture, Phil Lawler: As the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) wraps up its meeting in Baltimore, I see two encouraging signs. First, the American bishops joined with the bishops of England and Wales in asking Pope Francis to … Continue reading
U.S. bishops vote to advance canonization cause of American priest Isaac Hecker
Catholic News Agency, Joe Bukuras: The U.S. bishops voted Tuesday to advance the cause of beatification and canonization of Servant of God Isaac Thomas Hecker, a 19th-century American priest who founded the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, today … Continue reading
American Medical Association retains opposition to assisted suicide
Catholic News Agency, Jonah McKeown: The House of Delegates of the American Medical Association (AMA) has rebuffed an effort to change the organization’s current stance in opposition to physician-assisted suicide, a development that drew praise from members of the Catholic … Continue reading
Thieves repent, sacramentally confess, and return stolen objects to chapel in Spain
Catholic News Agency, Nicolás de Cárdenas: A week after desecrating and robbing a chapel in the Diocese of Orihuela-Alicante in Spain, the thieves have sacramentally confessed and returned the stolen sacred objects. Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of the diocese made … Continue reading
When Vatican PR makes the Pope look bad
Catholic Culture, Phil Lawler: To avoid any misunderstanding let me begin by saying that what follows is not a criticism of Pope Francis. It is a criticism of the Vatican press office. Last Monday at an audience with the Conference … Continue reading
Baby Indi Gregory’s father says he chose baptism for her after feeling ‘dragged to hell’
Catholic News Agency, Francesca Pollio Fenton: Despite not being religious, Dean Gregory, the father of 8-month-old Indi Gregory, expressed that his time in court fighting for his daughter’s life felt like he had been “dragged to hell.” The experience moved … Continue reading
U.S. population expected to decline after 2080; low fertility a cause, Census Bureau says
Catholic News Agency, Daniel Payne: The U.S. population will peak later this century before experiencing a decline by 2100, the U.S. Census Bureau said this week, with low fertility numbers partly explaining the projected decrease. The bureau said in a press … Continue reading
