From Vatican Radio:  Pope Francis’ first engagement on Saturday afternoon in the Georgian capital was a meeting with priests, religious and seminarians in Tbilisi’s Church of the Assumption. In an off-the-cuff address to the gathering, the Pope warned against what he termed “a global war to destroy marriage” in contemporary society, saying the great enemy of marriage nowadays was “gender theory.” In his wide-ranging address to priests, religious and seminarians gathered in Tbilisi’s Church of the Assumption, Pope Francis spoke... Read more

What the what? Check this out:  The Rev. Gretta Vosper is a dynamic, activist minister with a loyal following at her Protestant congregation in suburban Toronto. She is also an outspoken atheist. “We don’t talk about God,” Vosper said in an interview, describing services at her West Hill United Church, adding that it’s time the church gave up on “the idolatry of a theistic god.” Vosper’s decision to reject God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and to turn her... Read more

You may remember the story of Sohrab Ahmari, an editorial writer for The Wall Street Journal in London who, shortly after the murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel, publicly announced that he was converting to Catholicism. Now he tells the rest of his story. From The Catholic Herald:  On July 26, I announced my decision to join the Catholic Church. Hours earlier, a pair of jihadists had attacked a church in France and murdered a priest, Fr Jacques Hamel, while he was... Read more

From The Catholic News Herald: Father Joseph Matlak, 31, is celebrating his one-year anniversary of ordination as a priest of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He has recently been named administrator of the St. Basil Ukrainian Greek Catholic Mission and chaplain of Holy Trinity Middle School. Father Matlak has a unique priesthood, as he has permission to celebrate the liturgy in three rites: the Byzantine rite and the two forms of the Latin rite. He celebrates Mass in the Extraordinary Form... Read more

Our team from CNEWA will be in the Archdiocese of Hartford Saturday, speaking to deacons about the plight of Christians in the Middle East. The event is free and open to the public. Details:  When: 9AM-12PM, Saturday October 1st Where: Archdiocesan Center at St. Thomas Seminary (specific room TBD), 467 Bloomfield Ave., Bloomfield CT Want to know more?  Office of the Diaconate:  (860) 761-7445 I look forward to meeting the deacons of Hartford—and anyone else in the neighborhood! So if you can make it,... Read more

From Catholic New York:  The Holy Eucharist was stolen early last week from Holy Trinity Church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The tabernacle door was reportedly vandalized and forced open and the Eucharist was removed what is believed to be sometime early Monday morning, Sept. 19, according to Msgr. Thomas Sandi, the pastor. Msgr. Sandi made the discovery when opening the church for 9 a.m. daily Mass that same day. He reported the incident to police, and at press time... Read more

That’s the provocative question in The New York Times:  When Pope Francis ascended to the chair of St. Peter in March 2013, the world looked on in wonder. Here at last was a pope in line with the times, a man who preferred spontaneous gestures to ritual forms. Francis paid his own hotel bill and eschewed the red shoes. Rather than move into the grand papal apartments, he settled in the cozy guesthouse for visitors to theVatican. He also set... Read more

And he’s getting his chance with an appearance on the long-running game show. Details: After auditioning for 17 years for the popular game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” a Catholic priest with roots in the Kanawha Valley had his prayer answered. Do you believe in karma?” host Chris Harrison asked Father Bill Matheny during the show that aired Wednesday morning on WSAZ NewsChannel 3. “I believe in karma as well,” he continued. “I believe there’s some good karma... Read more

From The Telegraph:  In the US, over the past 10 years, the number of official priest exorcists has more than quadrupled from 12 to 50. But for two of America’s most active exorcists – Father Gary Thomas, whose training in Rome was chronicled in Matt Baglio’s book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, and Father Vincent Lampert, whose work was depicted on Paranormal Witness – it is an ongoing struggle to keep up with the demand. In lengthy interviews with The Telegraph,... Read more