From the pope’s latest interview: Pope Francis warned the Roman Catholic church against hypocrisy on the issue of poverty, saying it was impossible to speak about the poor and the homeless and yet lead the “life of a pharaoh”. The comments were made in an interview with Straatnieuws, a Dutch newspaper published by homeless people, and came as the Vatican has been forced on the defensive after the publication of two books exposing greed and financial management at the heart... Read more

It also may be one of the few in the country that has a “Care of Creation” parish committee. From the Catholic News Herald:  With a blessing of holy water and the flick of a few switches, St. Eugene Church became the first parish in the U.S. to launch a solar energy program in the spirit of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Care of Our Common Home.” Parish organizers, church members, community leaders and more than 100 Asheville... Read more

From Vatican Radio:  Pope Francis has sent a Message to the Global Christian Forum, which is holding a meeting in Tirana, Albania, under the theme “Discrimination, Persecution, Martyrdom: Following Christ Together.” “I think with great sadness of the escalating discrimination and persecution against Christians in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and elsewhere throughout the world. Your gathering shows that, as Christians, we are not indifferent to our suffering brothers and sisters,” writes Pope Francis. “In various parts of the world,... Read more

A few days back I wrote in praise of muscular church music.  And now, the UK’s Damien Thompson is striking a similar chord:  I can’t speak for other denominations, but I’m convinced that the distinctive awfulness of the music in many Catholic parishes helps explain why Mass attendance has fallen off a cliff since the 1970s. I’m lucky. I live in a London parish where the priest can tell the difference between a good hymn and a bad one. The tragedy is... Read more

From his daily homily today: The Christian includes, he does not close the door to anyone, even if this provokes resistance. He who excludes, because he believes himself to be better, generates conflicts and divisions, and does not consider the fact that “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.” That was the message of Pope Francis during Thursday morning’s Mass at Casa Santa Marta. In the Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul exhorts us not to judge... Read more

I haven’t seen much attention given to this—presumably, the only Holy Communion issues people were writing about and discussing in October involved divorce and remarriage—but this seems to be a pretty big deal: A U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committee on ecumenical and interreligious affairs plans to send the Vatican a bold suggestion for “expansion of opportunities for Catholics and Lutherans to receive Holy Communion together.” The 118-page text of “Declaration on the Way: Church, Ministry, and Eucharist [PDF],” unanimously... Read more

And keep a Kleenex handy. They don’t get much better than this. This comes from Florida and Gator Bride Video. It popped up on my Facebook feed this afternoon.  They had me when I heard this quote, from the best man: “I see Miko get really passionate about a lot of things for short amounts of time. But there’s two things I’ve never seen Miko lose passion about. The first of those things is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.... Read more

David Mills writes today: Only the affluent will find being open to life easy. For us, another child means an adjustment downward, but he doesn’t tip the family into poverty, or into deeper poverty. He may mean giving up a vacation if the family’s wealthy, or the Thursday family dinner out if the family’s middle class. Her arrival won’t mean giving up food, or rent or the parochial school that can make all the difference to his older siblings’ future. Most... Read more

My parish is blessed to have a man preparing for the diaconate: Thomas Jorge. I’m serving as his mentor during formation; he is on track to be ordained, by the grace of God, in 2017. Last Friday night, my diocese installed Tom and his classmates into the Ministry of Reader (or Lector). [img attachment=”74016″ align=”aligncenter” size=”full” alt=”12193598_10207171850107068_8148266477602517771_n” /] What does that mean? Glad you asked. There’s some interesting history. Here’s a very good summary, from the website of the Diocese of... Read more