There were Christians in Rome within a dozen or so years after the death of Jesus, though they were not the converts of the "Apostle of the Gentiles" (see Romans 15:20). Paul had not yet visited them at the time he wrote his great letter in A.D. 57-58.
There was a large Jewish population in Rome. Probably as a result of controversy between Jews and Jewish Christians, the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in A.D. 49-50. Suetonius the historian says that the expulsion was due to disturbances in the city "caused by the certain Chrestus" [Christ]. Perhaps many came back after Claudius's death in A.D. 54. Paul's letter was addressed to a church with members from Jewish and gentile backgrounds.
In July of A.D. 64, more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, a "great multitude" of Christians were put to death because of their "hatred of the human race." Peter and Paul were probably among the victims.
Threatened by an army revolt and condemned to death by the senate, Nero committed suicide in A.D. 68 at the age of thirty-one.
Wherever the Good News of Jesus was preached, it met the same opposition as Jesus did, and many of those who began to follow him shared his suffering and death. But no human force could stop the power of the Spirit unleashed upon the world. The blood of martyrs has always been, and will always be, the seed of Christians.
If there ever was a man who merited sainthood, he's got my vote. Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria says the declaration of Archbishop Fulton Sheen as “venerable” is wonderful news for both the diocese and the Catholic Church in America.
On June 28 the Pope Benedict XVI authorized the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the much loved U.S. archbishop, author and television evangelist. The move brings Sheen closer to sainthood.
“Fulton Sheen's zeal, wisdom, and holiness should help us build our faith,” Bishop Jenky said. He thanked God that the Catholic Church has recognized “a son from central Illinois.”
Archbishop Sheen was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria and went on to become a prominent speaker and author. In addition to serving as an auxiliary bishop of New York and Bishop of Rochester, was best known for his weekly radio broadcast “The Catholic Hour” and his later weekly television program “Life is Worth Living.” I liked that show :)
The archbishop died in 1979 at the age of 84. His cause for sainthood was opened in 2002.
Veneration of the two great Apostles, Peter and Paul, has its roots in the very foundations of the Church. They are the solid rock on which the Church is built. They are at the origin of her faith and will forever remain her protectors and her guides. To them Rome owes her true greatness, for it was under God's providential guidance that they were led to make the capital of the Empire, sanctified by their martyrdom, the center of the Christian world whence should radiate the preaching of the Gospel.
St. Peter suffered martyrdom under Nero, in A.D. 66 or 67. He was buried on the hill of the Vatican where recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of the basilica of St. Peter's. St. Paul was beheaded in the via Ostia on the spot where now stands the basilica bearing his name. Down the centuries Christian people in their thousands have gone on pilgrimage to the tombs of these Apostles. In the second and third centuries the Roman Church already stood pre-eminent by reason of her apostolicity, the infallible truth of her teaching and her two great figures, Sts. Peter and Paul.
A plenary indulgence may be gained today by anyone who makes devout use of a religious article blessed by a bishop and who also recites any approved profession of faith (e.g. the Apostles Creed), as long as the usual conditions are satisfied.
Stunning. The most disastrous Supreme Court decision since Roe v. Wade.
Not only does this obliterate the first amendment and our religious freedom, it opens the door for the government to impose pretty much anything it wants on us under the guise of a tax. I am also disgusted with Roberts for siding with the libs. And why didn't Kagan recuse herself? She helped craft the legal defense for Obamacare. Now even more reason to vote for Mitt.
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, drawing cries of disappointment and concern from pro-life and religious freedom advocates nationwide.
Christen Varley, executive director of Conscience Cause, a nonpartisan advocacy organization that works to secure and defend religious freedom, said that she was “extremely disappointed” with the decision.
“The first line of the First Amendment in our Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to religious freedom, as our forefathers intended,” Varley said. “Now, we have opened the door to a government that sees no limit to the amount of freedoms it can take away.”
In a 5-4 decision, the court ruled on June 28 that the law is constitutional, including an individual mandate that requires virtually all individuals to purchase health insurance plans.
The justices said that while this mandate does not fall within the powers afforded by the commerce clause, the penalty that people must pay if they refuse to buy insurance can be understood instead as a kind of tax that Congress is authorized to impose under its taxing power. Didn't Barry tell us it's not a tax?
Last night at Church Father reported that a former parishioner who now lives in Colorado called to ask for prayers. Of course, we are keeping them in our prayers.
Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says.
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Saint Irenaeus was born in the year 120; he was of the Greek tongue, and probably a native of Asia Minor. His parents, who were Christians, placed him while still young under the care of the great Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. It was in this holy school that he learned the sacred science which later made him a great ornament of the Church and the terror of her enemies. Saint Polycarp cultivated his rising genius and formed his mind to piety by his precepts and example, and the zealous young scholar was careful to reap all advantages offered him by the solicitude of such a master. Such was his veneration for his tutor’s sanctity that he observed all the acts and virtues he saw in that holy man, the better to copy his example and learn his spirit. He listened to his instructions with an insatiable ardor, and so deeply did he engrave them in his heart that the impressions remained vivid even in his old age. In order to confound the heresies of his age, this Doctor of the Church acquainted himself with the conceits of the pagan philosophers, and thereby became qualified to trace every error to its sources and set it in its full light. By his writings he was already known to Tertullian, Theodoret and Saint Epiphanus, who speak of him as a luminous torch of truth in the darkness of those times.
After Irenaeus had spent a number of years in combat against the eastern gnostics and philosophers of error, Saint Polycarp determined to send him to Gaul, where many of the heretics of Asia Minor had already migrated to pursue the Catholic religion, which was beginning to find roots there. With a company of about forty Christians, the valiant soldier of Christ ascended the Rhone to Lyons to rejoin and aid Saint Pothinus, its bishop. Saint Pothinus was already advanced in age, and his church’s neophytes could not always distinguish truth from the gnostic aberrations. Saint Pothinus received the apostles with joy and soon ordained Saint Irenaeus.
A hundred times he exposed himself to martyrdom by his zeal, acting as the right arm of the aging bishop, but God was reserving that crown for him twenty-five years later. When Saint Pothinus had glorified God by his splendid martyr’s death in the year 177, Ireneus was chosen to be the second bishop of Lyons. The persecutors imagined that Christianity had been stifled in Lyons, and they ceased their pursuits for a time.
This great Doctor of the Church wrote many important works, of which the most famous is his Adversus Haereses, Against the Heresies, in explanation of the Faith. By his preaching, Saint Irenaeus in a short time converted almost the whole country to the Faith; the Christians of Lyons became models by their candor, their estrangement from all ambition, their poverty, chastity and temperance, and in this way confounded many adversaries of their religion. Saint Irenaeus continued to imitate what he had seen done by his beloved master, Saint Polycarp, himself the disciple and imitator of Saint John the Apostle. One can readily imagine the excellence of the administration and the breadth of charity reigning in the Church of Lyons.
Finally he suffered martyrdom there, with many others, in the year 202, under the Emperor Septimus Severus, after eighty years spent in the service of the Lord. The imperial decrees renewing the persecutions arrived at Lyons at the time of the celebration of Severus’ tenth year of reign; the pagans found amid the celebrations an opportunity to take vengeance on the Christians, who refused to participate in the debaucheries which accompanied these feastings. Assassins armed with daggers, stones and knives filled the city with blood, and thousands of Christians won, with their bishop, the crown they had always admired as the greatest glory God could grant His servants.
Fr. Pavone has been confined to his diocese unfairly by his Bishop Zurek since September 2011, without being accused of any wrongdoing. This is not only unfair to Fr. Pavone, it is hindering the pro-life efforts of Priests for Life.
We are happy to announce that the Vatican has upheld Father Frank Pavone's appeal and has declared that Father Pavone is not now nor has ever been suspended. Father Pavone remains a priest in good standing all over the world.
We were confident all along that a just decision would be made by the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy. While we fully agree that Bishop Zurek has rightful authority over the priests of his diocese, we also see the urgent need for Father Pavone to be allowed to conduct his priestly ministry outside the diocese of Amarillo for the good of the pro-life movement.
St. Cyril is one of the great Greek fathers of the Church. He was chosen by divine Providence to be the shield and champion of the Church against Nestorius, who denied the unity of person in Christ. If this heresy had succeeded, Mary would not be called the Mother of God.
Excepting Sts. Athanasius and Augustine, his equal as a defender of orthodoxy, can hardly be found in the Church's history. His greatest achievement was the successful direction of the ecumenical council at Ephesus (431), of which he was the soul (Pope Celestine had appointed him papal legate). In this council two important dogmas were defined – that there is but one person in Christ, and that Mary (in the literal sense of the word) can be called the Mother of God (Theotokos). His successful defense of the latter doctrine is his greatest title to honor.
His writings show such depth and clarity that the Greeks called him the "seal of the fathers." He died in 444 A.D., after having been bishop for thirty-two years. In Rome, the basilica of St. Mary Major stands as a most venerable monument to the honor paid Mary at the Council of Ephesus. On the arch leading into the sanctuary important incidents in the lives of Jesus and Mary are depicted in mosaic.
The UN (WHO is part of the UN) is pretty impotent when it comes to world affairs, but they sure know how to promote abortion.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a guide detailing the most effective ways to kill unborn children, with different methods at various stages of the unborn child’s development.
The document is the second edition of “Safe abortion: technical and policy guidance for health systems” which was originally published in 2003.
“It is a horrific read,” stated Scott Fischbach, Executive Director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL) Global Outreach.
“Following these guidelines will assuredly kill women and their unborn children, especially in developing nations,” he added. “Some of the recommendations, WHO admits, are based on very low evidence. They are truly reckless and deadly.”
International abortion advocates lauded WHO’s new guide as a ‘major step forward’. IPAS, the organization which was founded on the creation of a vacuum device used in abortion, praised “WHO’s respect for the essential role of abortion access in women’s health and their ability to fully exercise their human rights,” evidenced in the new document. Too bad the baby doesn't get any rights.
JosemarÃa's father died in 1924, leaving him as head of the family. After his ordination in 1925, he began his ministry in a rural parish, and subsequently continued it in Saragossa. In 1927, Fr. JosemarÃa's bishop gave him permission to move to Madrid to obtain his doctorate in law.
On October 2, 1928, during a spiritual retreat, Fr. JosemarÃa saw what it was that God was asking of him: to found Opus Dei, a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfillment of the Christian's ordinary duties. From then on he worked on carrying out this task, meanwhile continuing his priestly ministry, particularly to the poor and the sick. During these early years of Opus Dei, he was also studying at the University of Madrid and teaching classes in order to support his family. When the Civil War broke out in Madrid, religious persecution forced Fr. JosemarÃa to exercise his priestly ministry clandestinely and to move from place to place seeking refuge. Eventually, he was able to leave the Spanish capital; and, after a harrowing escape across the Pyrenees, he took up residence in Burgos. When the war concluded in 1939, he returned to Madrid and finally obtained his doctorate in law. In the years that followed he gave many retreats to laity, priests, and religious, and continued working assiduously to develop Opus Dei.
In 1946 Fr. JosemarÃa took up residence in Rome. During his years in Rome, he obtained a doctorate in Theology from the Lateran University and was appointed by Pope Pius XII as a consultor to two Vatican Congregations, as an honorary member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, and as an honorary prelate.
He traveled frequently from Rome to various European countries, and to Mexico on one occasion, to spark the growth of Opus Dei in those places. In 1974 and 1975, he made two long trips to a number of countries in Latin America, where he met with large groups of people and spoke to them about their Christian vocation to holiness.
Msgr. Escrivá died in Rome on June 26, 1975. By the time of his death, Opus Dei had begun in dozens of countries and had touched countless lives. After his death thousands of people, including more than a third of the world's bishops, sent letters to Rome asking the Pope to open his cause of beatification and canonization.
Pope John Paul II beatified Msgr. Escrivá on May 17, 1992, in St. Peter's Square in Rome. The ceremony was attended by approximately 300,000 people. "With supernatural intuition," said the Pope in his homily, "Blessed JosemarÃa untiringly preached the universal call to holiness and apostolate."
Ten years later, on October 6, 2002, John Paul II canonized the founder of Opus Dei in St. Peter's Square before a multitude of people from more than 80 countries. In his discourse to those who attended the canonization, the Holy Father said that "St. JosemarÃa was chosen by the Lord to proclaim the universal call to holiness and to indicate that everyday life, its customary activities, are a path towards holiness. It could be said that he was the saint of the ordinary."
Excellent news...If they reject Catholic teachings, they shouldn't be part of the Catholic Church.
If they are not prepared to assert a more distinctly Catholic identity, the Vatican is prepared to oust the largest umbrella group of American nuns and sisters as the official representative and liaison with Rome, one of the pope’s closest advisors said in a rare interview.
If the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) refuses absolutely to cooperate with the Vatican’s attempt at reform, said William Levada, the cardinal prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, they will force Rome to reconsider their position in the Church.
“If you look at the church as a hierarchical structure—whether you see that as benign, or something else—ultimately, the pope is the superior,” Levada said.
“I suppose if the sisters said, ‘OK, we’re not cooperating with this,’ we can’t force them to cooperate. What we can do, and what we’d have to do, is say to them, ‘We will substitute a functioning group for yours,’ if it comes to that.”
Levada told US journalist John Allen that it is “premature” to imagine that the current LCWR leadership is to address the “substantive issues” brought up by a doctrinal assessment issued in April.
Allen stressed the point, asking, “So if the response is not satisfactory, the result could be decertification of LCWR?”
“It could be,” Levada responded.
LCWR is the organisation, founded in the 1950s, that officially represents about 80 percent of the 57,000 religious sisters in the U.S. Their membership is not growing, however, and the average age of most of the sisters in the US is about 74 with many of the LCWR-represented groups amalgamating or shutting down altogether. On the other hand, the orders that wear a habit and actually adhere to Church teachings are flourishing.
Fox News Rome correspondent and former National Catholic Register journalist Greg Burke has been praised as the ideal choice for the Vatican's new media adviser post.
“It's an incredible challenge,” Burke told CNA on June 24. “I didn't want to leave the job at Fox, which has been a wonderful gig.”
“But I think if I didn't take it, I would always be wondering if I could have made a difference,” he said. “I guess now I'll get to find out.”
Burke's newly created position requires him to assist the Vatican with communications issues between the Holy See press office, other Vatican communications departments and the Secretariat of State.
Originally from St. Louis, Mo., the 52-year-old is a Colombia University journalism graduate, a lay member of Opus Dei, and previously worked as a Rome correspondent for the National Catholic Register.
He credits his work at the Register – writing during the 1980s and early 90s under former editor-in-chief and friend Francis Maier – as preparation for the new job.
“I feel very fortunate that I've had a lot of real world journalism experience, at a very high level, and I hope I can put that to use for the Vatican,” he said.
“Blame it all on Fran Maier if you want; he's the one who gave me a job in Rome almost 25 years ago.”
Maier, who serves as special adviser to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia and was former chancellor of the Denver archdiocese, is equally enthusiastic over Burke's appointment.
In truth, virtue and piety were always of prime importance to Jutta and her husband, both of noble rank. The two were set to make a pilgrimage together to the holy places in Jerusalem, but her husband died on the way. The newly widowed Jutta, after taking care to provide for her children, resolved to live in a manner utterly pleasing to God. She disposed of the costly clothes, jewels and furniture befitting one of her rank, and became a Secular Franciscan, taking on the simple garment of a religious.
From that point her life was utterly devoted to others: caring for the sick, particularly lepers; tending to the poor, whom she visited in their hovels; helping the crippled and blind with whom she shared her own home. Many of the townspeople of Thuringia laughed at how the once-distinguished lady now spent all her time. But Jutta saw the face of God in the poor and felt honored to render whatever services she could.
About the year 1260, not long before her death, Jutta lived near the non-Christians in eastern Germany. There she built a small hermitage and prayed unceasingly for their conversion. She has been venerated for centuries as the special patron of Prussia.
I believe it is very wrong and unfair that some people feel entitled to force their lifestyle on others.
A New York lesbian couple has sued to force a Catholic hospital to provide them with insurance benefits by challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The same-sex couple has filed a lawsuit against Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield and St. Joseph’s Medical Center because one of St. Joseph’s divisions, St. Vincent’s Westchester, denied them spousal benefits.
The plaintiffs, who have chosen to remain anonymous, are seeking past and future benefits and a declaration that they are entitled to receive them.
Though New York recognizes same-sex marriage, self-insured employers such as St. Joseph’s may still refuse to recognize them because they are governed by federal regulations, rather than state regulations.
The lawsuit alleges that the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman for the purposes of federal regulations, is discriminatory and unconstitutional, and therefore cannot justify the hospital’s policy. “It’s just not socially fair,” the employee told the New York Times.
With the Fortnight for Freedom beginning today, the nation’s Catholic bishops have released a new prayer calling for greater respect and appreciation of religious liberty — which they say the Obama administration has abrogated with its HHS mandate.
The mandate has caused massive controversy within pro-life and religious circles by forcing Catholic and evangelical groups and businesses to pay for abortion-causing drugs and birth control for their employees.
O God our Creator, from your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
You have called us as your people and given us the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ.
Through the power and working of your Holy Spirit, you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society.
We ask you to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty. Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith.
Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome—for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us—this great land will always be “one nation, under God,indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
His belief that no lay ruler has jurisdiction over the church of Christ cost Thomas More his life.
Beheaded on Tower Hill, London, July 6, 1535, he steadfastly refused to approve Henry VIII's divorce and remarriage and establishment of the Church of England.
Described as "a man for all seasons," More was a literary scholar, eminent lawyer, gentleman, father of four children and chancellor of England. An intensely spiritual man, he would not support the king's divorce from Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Nor would he acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the church in England, breaking with Rome and denying the pope as head.
More was committed to the Tower of London to await trial for treason: not swearing to the Act of Succession and the Oath of Supremacy. Upon conviction, More declared he had all the councils of Christendom and not just the council of one realm to support him in the decision of his conscience.
Four hundred years later, in 1935, Thomas More was canonized a saint of God. Few saints are more relevant to our time. In fact, in 2000, Pope John Paul II named him patron of political leaders. The supreme diplomat and counselor, Thomas More did not compromise his own moral values in order to please the king, knowing that true allegiance to authority is not blind acceptance of everything that authority wants. Henry himself realized this and tried desperately to win his chancellor to his side because he knew More was a man whose approval counted, a man whose personal integrity no one questioned. But when Thomas resigned as chancellor, unable to approve the two matters that meant most to Henry, the king felt he had to get rid of Thomas.
St. John Fisher
John Fisher is usually associated with Erasmus, Thomas More and other Renaissance humanists. His life, therefore, did not have the external simplicity found in the lives of some saints. Rather, he was a man of learning, associated with the intellectuals and political leaders of his day. He was interested in the contemporary culture and eventually became chancellor at Cambridge. He had been made a bishop at thirty-five, and one of his interests was raising the standard of preaching in England. Fisher himself was an accomplished preacher and writer. His sermons on the penitential psalms were reprinted seven times before his death. With the coming of Lutheranism, he was drawn into controversy. His eight books against heresy gave him a leading position among European theologians.
In 1521 he was asked to study the problem of Henry VIII's marriage. He incurred Henry's anger by defending the validity of the king's marriage with Catherine and later by rejecting Henry's claim to be the supreme head of the Church of England.
In an attempt to be rid of him, Henry first had him accused of not reporting all the "revelations" of the nun of Kent, Elizabeth Barton. John was summoned, in feeble health, to take the oath to the new Act of Succession. He and Thomas More refused because the Act presumed the legality of Henry's divorce and his claim to be head of the English church. They were sent to the Tower of London, where Fisher remained fourteen months without trial. They were finally sentenced to life imprisonment and loss of goods.
When the two were called to further interrogations, they remained silent. Fisher was tricked, on the supposition he was speaking privately as a priest, and declared again that the king was not supreme head. The king, further angered that the pope had made John Fisher a cardinal, had him brought to trial on the charge of high treason. He was condemned and executed, his body left to lie all day on the scaffold and his head hung on London Bridge. More was executed two weeks later.
No surprise that Soros is once again using his billions against the Catholic Church. He's also a big backer of Barry's.
A leaked e-mail shows that the Democratic-leaning organization Faith in Public Life is running a behind-the-scenes media effort to undercut the U.S. bishops and the “Fortnight for Freedom” events intended to rally opposition to the HHS mandate.
Donohue said “fair minded persons” may disagree with the religious freedom effort “but there is something unseemly going on when those who work for a George Soros-funded group are quietly providing talking points to the media.”
The June 7 e-mail from John Gehring, Faith in Public Life’s Catholic Program Director, is addressed to reporters, editors and columnists. It describes itself as a “backgrounder” and contains talking points, adversarial questions for Catholic bishops and recommendations of experts to interview.
This is precisely why our American Bishops have launched 'Fortnight for Freedom'...our religious freedom has never been as threatened as it is now.
Although the U.S. Military fight and die to uphold freedom, high-level military chaplains report they are increasingly being denied freedom of conscience and freedom of speech. There is also alarm about the negative effects on troop morale over the undoing of the 237-years’ practice of providing traditional religious support for U.S. soldiers.
“We were promised that we would see no change - very little change,” says Col. Ron Crews, alluding to a two-star officer’s assurance that the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal would not impede the ministry of military chaplains. That promise, he says, has not been kept.
Col. Crews, executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, was speaking at a panel along with military chaplains and religious freedom activists during the 2012 National Religious Freedom Conference in Washington D.C on May 24.
The panelists agreed that the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and other policies have made it difficult, if not a punishable offense, for military chaplains to read passages of Leviticus, pray aloud in the name of God at a soldier’s funeral, or preside over traditional services.
The Fortnight for Freedom campaign the nation’s Catholic bishops started against the Obama HHS mandate, which forces religious groups to pay for abortions and birth control drugs for their employees, begins Thursday.
The United States Catholic bishops are readying American Catholics for what may be the largest campaign of civil disobedience since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. In addition to 12 lawsuits against the Obama Administration including 46 plaintiffs from dioceses, hospitals and universities, the US Catholic bishops are urging Catholics to openly defy the Obama HHS Mandate.
The USCCB is distributing bulletin inserts nationwide, which reference Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his call for civil disobedience in response to unjust laws.
According to the USCCB, “Bishops in their own dioceses are encouraged to arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending religious freedom. Catholic institutions are encouraged to do the same, especially in cooperation with other Christians, Jews, people of other faiths and all who wish to defend our most cherished freedom.”
John Jansen of the Pro-Life Action League urges everyone to participate and commended the Catholic bishops for leading what is not a Catholic-only fight.
The people who mass-produce statues and holy cards have done St. Aloysius Gonzaga no favors. The standard image of the saint as a frail, doe-eyed novice has given us the wrong impression. It may even be responsible for the decline in devotion to St. Aloysius. Yet Aloysius deserves a revival, especially as the patron saint of teenagers.
The time and place where he grew up — 16th-century Italy — is not very different from 21st century America. It was a lax, morally careless, self-indulgent age. Aloysius saw the decadence around him and vowed not to be part of it. He did not, however, become a kill-joy. Like any teenage boy, he wanted to have a good time, and as a member of an aristocratic family he had plenty of opportunities for amusement. He enjoyed horse races, banquets and the elaborate parties held in palace gardens. But if Aloysius found himself at a social function that took a turn to the lascivious, he left.
Aloysius did not just want to be good, he wanted to be holy; and on this point he could be tough and uncompromising. He came by these qualities naturally: among the great families of Renaissance Italy, the Medici were famous as patrons of the arts, and the Borgias as schemers, but the Gonzagas were a warrior clan. While most Gonzaga men aspired to conquer others, Aloysius was determined to conquer himself.
Aloysius wanted to be a priest. When he was 12 or 13, he invented for himself a program he thought would prepare him for the religious life. He climbed out of bed in the middle of the night to put in extra hours kneeling on the cold stone floor of his room. Occasionally, he even beat himself with a leather dog leash. Aloysius was trying to become a saint by sheer willpower. It was not until he entered the Jesuit novitiate in Rome that he had a spiritual director — St. Robert Bellarmine — to guide him.
Bellarmine put a stop to Aloysius’ boot camp approach to sanctity, commanding him to follow the Jesuit rule of regular hours of prayer and simple acts of self-control and self-denial. Aloysius thought the Jesuits were too lenient, but he obeyed. Such over-the-top zeal may have exasperated Bellarmine, but he believed that Aloysius’ fervor was genuine and that with proper guidance the boy might be a saint.
To his credit, Aloysius recognized that his bullheadedness was a problem. From the novitiate he wrote to his brother, "I am a piece of twisted iron. I entered the religious life to get twisted straight."
Then, in January 1591, the plague struck Rome. With the city’s hospitals overflowing with the sick and the dying, the Jesuits sent every priest and novice to work in the wards. This was a difficult assignment for the squeamish Aloysius. Once he started working with the sick, however, fear and disgust gave way to compassion. He went into the streets of Rome and carried the ill and the dying to the hospital on his back. There he washed them, found them a bed, or at least a pallet, and fed them. Such close contact with the sick was risky. Within a few weeks, Aloysius contracted the plague himself and died. He was 23 years old.
In the sick, the helpless, the dying, St. Aloysius saw the crucified Christ. The man of the iron will who thought he could take Heaven by sheer determination surrendered at last to divine grace.
I'm glad I chose not to run the story that Rubio wasn't being vetted. It turned out to be incorrect. I do think he'd make a good VP.
“Although it is possible that Rubio may yet be asked to go through the vetting process, it has been nearly two months since Romney named his long-time aide Beth Myers to run his vice presidential search. The fact that Rubio has not been asked to turn over any documents by now is a strong indication that he is not on Romney’s short list of potential running mates,” Karl continues.
UPDATE: Later Tuesday, Romney denied the report and said Rubio is under consideration.
“The story was entirely false, Marco Rubio is being thoroughly vetted as part of our process,” Romney told reporters.
“There are only two people in this country who know who are being vetted and who are not. That’s Beth Myers and myself, and I know Beth well, she doesn’t talk to anybody,” Romney added.
The details will likely come out later as to whether Romney will, indeed, choose Rubio despite this attention-drawing report. Some political observers speculate the supposed lack of vetting is a ploy to draw off the mainstream media. Others say Rubio, for family reasons or other political considerations, may have made the decision to not allow himself to be seriously considered — rather than Romney eliminating him from consideration.
St. Alban was the first Christian martyr in Britain during the early 4th century. He is the patron saint of converts and torture victims.
Although he was not a man of faith, St. Alban was very hospitable and compassionate. As a soldier, he sheltered a persecuted priest, Amphibalus, during a time when Christians were being put to death in Britain. The priest's faith and piety struck St. Alban, as well as his dedication to prayer.
Alban soon converted to Christianity.
In an effort to help the priest escape, he switched clothes with him. But Alban was caught and ordered to renounce his faith. St. Alban refused to worship idols, and when asked to state his name, answered “My name is Alban, and I worship the only true and living God, who created all things.
For his refusal to deny his beliefs, he was to be tortured and beheaded. The person first selected to execute Alban heard his testimony and converted on the spot. After refusing to kill Alban, he was executed as well.
A number of other conversions are claimed to have happened thanks to the witness of St. Alban’s martyrdom, specifically on behalf of spectators of his execution.
Finally, when the priest learned that Alban was arrested in his place, he turned himself in, hoping to save Alban’s life. But that wasn’t the case. The priest was killed as well.
St. Alban’s Cathedral now stands near the execution site. The town where he was born was also renamed after him.
Atheist blogger Leah Libresco shocked the secular community this week when she announced on her Patheos blog that she has converted to Christianity. Her article, entitled, “This is my last post for the Patheos Atheist Portal,” explained her conversion to Catholicism, which has sent shock-waves through the atheist blogosphere.
In her post, Libresco details her personal struggles with understanding the root of moral law. Obviously, non-believers don’t see morality as coming from a central source. Instead, they see humanity as living on its own, disconnected from any fertile source of knowledge and goodness. For Libresco, this ideal has come full-circle, as she inevitably arrived at an understanding that aligns with a Christ-centered world-view.
"Sister" Keehan continues to be reluctant to fully support the Church, even as our Bishops are "waking up" to oppose the HHS mandate that she helped get passed, as part of Obamacare. She is a disgrace.
The Catholic Health Association (CHA) and its leader, Obamacare advocate Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, have apparently reversed their position and now stand in opposition to the Obama administration’s inadequate “accommodation” on the HHS contraceptive mandate. Kudos for that!
But as is becoming a tiresome habit for CHA, they aren’t standing entirely with the bishops. CHA says in today’s letter to HHS that it wants the contraceptive mandate’s exemption “broadened to cover all ministries of the Church,” just as the bishops have argued.Yet in direct contradiction to the bishops, CHA is pushing for a new definition of religious organizations that could prove even worse than the Obama administration’s current language. And if accepted, the CHA definition could be a disaster for the cause of religious liberty and for Catholic higher education.
The Cardinal Newman Society has been warning about this since last December, after CHA and the University of Notre Dame both recommended to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius similar solutions, drawing on language in Section 414(e) of the Internal Revenue Code that exempts church-related pension plans from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
I have never heard Voris teach anything contrary to Catholic teachings, but Archbishop Vigneron is also a good Bishop. I'm not privy to all the details of this case beyond what has been published, but I stand with the Archbishop.
Real Catholic TV will change its name to ChurchMilitant.TV after the Archdiocese of Detroit asked the faithful programmers to stop describing itself as Catholic.
The network hosts the popular program “The Vortex” with Michael Voris. Although the archdiocese has not taken similar action against liberal or dissenting institutions, Voris said the church contacted him and refused to meet to discuss the matter.
Instead, the archdiocese issued a press release last December that the host and his network are not “authorized to use the word ‘Catholic’ to identify or promote their public activities.”
This is exactly why I won't give to Komen or buy any product with the pink ribbon. I'd like to donate to breast cancer research, but I prefer to do so without giving to the country's largest abortionist
Another Komen affiliate is sending thousands of dollars to the nation’s biggest abortion business following the national controversy over Komen’s initial decision, and subsequent reversal, to deny Planned Parenthood funding.
The North Jersey affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure announced Friday that Planned Parenthood is among the recipients of more than $1.2 million in total grants to 18 local organizations. A news report reveals the Komen chapter had given a $20,000 grant to the local Planned Parenthood abortion business last year and chose to renew the grant this year.
Komen North Jersey spokeswoman Kathi Edelson Wolder said Friday the organization had an independent panel review all its grant applications.
“Planned Parenthood was found worthy in terms of its patient education and how they measure up to our priorities in meeting the needs of women and men in our community,” she said.
In a press release Friday, the organization added that this year’s grants are based on a “comprehensive, biannual community profile” conducted in 2011 to make sure the programs address unmet needs.
This is by far the most lame excuse ever for a pro-abort assaulting pro-lifers. Usually, it's because they want to protect their ending of human lives. But...have a listen to this gem of a quote:
"Arrest me. I don’t care,” says the man. “I’m speaking for everybody around here. We put all this money together, trying to beautify our neighbourhood, and you come in here…” An abortuary beautifies a neighborhood? What the....? If it weren't such a serious issue, this would be laughable.
Fr. Frank Pavone was right when he said "America will not reject abortion until it sees abortion". I was surprised at the reaction to this story; it is like many people had no idea what an abortion is and what it does: It kills a baby.
Well you can't say Pope Benedict hasn't tried. He has done everything possible to bring SSPX back to the Catholic Church. I don't like the changes that Vatican II brought to the Church, but it is still the True Church founded by Jesus Christ and I would never just walk away from it.
The Vatican has confirmed that the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X is being offered the status of a personal prelature as part of a deal to heal the group’s 24-year rift with the Catholic Church.
“Clearly the ball is now in the court of the Society,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said on June 14.
Yesterday afternoon the Society’s superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, spent over two hours in talks with representatives of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led by Prefect Cardinal William J. Levada.
A June 14 communique from the Vatican Press Office confirmed that during those discussions “a draft document was submitted proposing a Personal Prelature as the most appropriate instrument for any future canonical recognition of the Society.”
A personal prelature is a Church jurisdiction without geographical boundaries designed to carry out particular pastoral initiatives. At present, the only personal prelature in the Church is Opus Dei.
The Society of St. Pius X was founded in 1970 by Frenchman Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in response to errors he believed had crept into the Church following the Second Vatican Council.
I'm pretty impressed with our Bishops for their standing up for religious freedom the way they are.
Speakers at the U.S. bishops’ meeting in Atlanta, Ga. emphasized the importance of continuing efforts to defend religious freedom through various cultural, legal and educational approaches.
Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ religious liberty committee, explained that the U.S. Church is faced with “not just one but a serious of extraordinary challenges” that will require “full and undivided efforts” to address.
The archbishop spoke June 13 as part of a two-hour discussion on domestic and international religious freedom at the spring general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
John Garvey, president of The Catholic University of America, also spoke during the discussion, outlining numerous recent threats to religious liberty in the U.S.
Among the most prominent of these threats is a federal insurance mandate that will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs, even if it violates their consciences.
Garvey also noted that the bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services was denied a grant to work with human trafficking victims last fall because it would not refer for abortion and contraception, despite being among the top-ranked groups in the field for the past five years.
St. Methodius worked for unity and reconciliation in the Eastern Church and, served as the Patriarch of Constantinople the last five years of his life.
Born in Syracuse, he first felt the call to enter religious life while in Constantinople, where he had gone to seek a position at court. He left for the island of Chinos, where he built a monastery and started a monastic community.
However, his time at the monastery was short-lived since he was summoned by the Patriarch of Constantinople to help govern the diocese and create unity after a debate broke out on the use of icons in worship. While in Rome seeking the Pope’s help, he was exiled for seven years. He returned as patriarch in 842 and continued to work for unity.
