The good people at Catholic News Agency uncovered the story behind the sensational Doritos commercial that aired during the Super Bowl on Sunday. If you visit the Doritos website, you can find out more: that it was created for $2,000 by a 45-year-old Australian filmmaker named Peter Carstairs—and the image in the ultrasound is, in fact, his own son, now nine months old: Growing up in Australia, Peter closely followed the Hollywood entertainment industry and fell in love with American... Read more

A year after one bishop decided to change the order of the sacraments of initiation, another has decided to make a different change—preserving the present order, but moving the age of confirmation. A letter was published last week from Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville: After much prayer, discernment and further consultation, I have decided to move the age (grade level) of confirmation, effective January 1, 2019, to the 5th and 6th grade level. With this pastoral adjustment to the confirmation age, I... Read more

Announcing particulars of the pope’s upcoming visit, the Vatican had some notable details:  On Sunday 14 February, the Pope will travel to Ecatepec by helicopter. Ecapetec means “windy hill” and is notoriously cold so in order to spare faithful the long outdoor wait, he will celebrate mass quite late in the morning, at 11:30 am. He will return to Mexico City in the afternoon. At 5:45 pm will visit the Federico Gómez childrens’ hospital. On Monday 15 February he will be... Read more

From The Spectator’s Damien Thompson: The decline of the Church of England has been one of the most astonishing trends in modern Britain. The pews of churches in this country are emptying fast. Next week, a book was to be published about this collapse entitled That Was The Church That Was: How the Church of England Lost the English People. But suddenly the publishers, Bloomsbury, decided to pull it. The book, it seemed, was a little too incendiary. Those reviewing the... Read more

The Cardinal Newsman Society notes:  Two Georgetown University law professors posted an article on a University website this week calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend birth control and abortion as means of responding to the Zika virus outbreak in South America in order to “truly respect the dignity and health of women of childbearing age.” On Georgetown University’s O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law blog website, Lawrence O. Gostin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute... Read more

They’re doing something right at the Franciscan Renewal Center, the facility outside Phoenix where directed a retreat for deacons last weekend. The place is beautiful—situated between two craggy mountains, with soaring palm trees and lots of acreage for roaming around. It’s a great place to pray, reflect—and take lots of pictures.  And: it evidently attracts a big crowd every week for its liturgies. Mass Saturday night was filled to overflowing. [img attachment=”90556″ align=”aligncenter” size=”full” alt=”IMG_4526″ /]   [img attachment=”90557″ align=”aligncenter” size=”full” alt=”IMG_4527″ /] In... Read more

Who knew? This clever bit of photoshop made me laugh out loud. As someone who has spent entirely too much time in airports lately, I can relate. H/T Orthodox Priest Memes and John Burger. FYI: The pope’s meeting with the patriarch will really happen on February 12. Read more.  Read more

From Fr. Michael Duffy, a heart-stirring and heart-breaking gift of love:  How beautiful that my father died during this jubilee year of Mercy. A year in which we are called to reflect upon that beautiful gift of God, his merciful and tender care and love for each of us. My father received the mercy of the lord through his life. Over and over again he received the grace from the lord to pick himself up after each of his struggles. Dad... Read more

From AP:  Pope Francis will issue a decree authorizing the use of indigenous languages in Mass celebrations when he travels to Mexico next week, one of the symbolic gestures he will make in defense of Indian rights in the country. The Vatican said Friday that Francis will present the decree during a Mass dedicated to indigenous people in the state of Chiapas on Feb. 15. Some church authorities had long bristled at the inclusion of indigenous elements in Masses, which... Read more