From the Vatican news site: When we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to work, divisions in the Church grow. This was the message at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily Thursday morning concelebrated with Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige, the Archbishop of Colombo Sri Lanka, and staff from the Vatican Museums. Pope Francis focused on the first reading from Acts which recounts the first steps of the Church which, after Pentecost, went out to the “outskirts of faith” to proclaim... Read more
You may remember this story from a few weeks back. Now, an update: A March decision to decline official club status to a Knights of Columbus college council at Gonzaga University because the group was all male and exclusively Catholic has been reversed by Gonzaga president Thayne McCulloh. A statement issued from the president’s office Tuesday also said McCulloh has “directed the Student Activities department to review and update the ‘Clubs and Organizations Recognition Policy’ with the goal of more clearly and... Read more
Details: JCPenney lost nearly a third of its customers in 2012. Now, in an unprecedented move, the company is admitting it totally screwed up. JCPenney’s latest ad acknowledges the missteps the company has made in the past year. “It’s no secret. Recently JCPenney changed,” the company says in the new ad uploaded to its YouTube channel. “Some changes you liked, and some you didn’t. But what matters with mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing: to listen to you. To hear what you need to... Read more
Break out the bubble wrap. Details from CNS: Retired Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to move into a remodeled convent at the Vatican May 2, the Vatican spokesman said. The spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, said Pope Benedict would arrive at the Vatican in the early evening by helicopter, “weather permitting.” Pope Benedict has been living at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, since Feb. 28, the date his resignation took effect. Pope Francis traveled to... Read more
That’s how one parishioner in this post by Frank Weathers describes the story behind this picture. It shows a priest who confessed to groping a teenager in 2001 evidently having a very good time in 2010. With teenagers. Details: Amid calls for a Vatican investigation, Newark Archbishop John J. Myers came under fierce criticism Monday for his handling of a priest who attended youth retreats and heard confessions from minors in defiance of a lifetime ban on ministry to children.... Read more
A friend posted this on Facebook. It comes from Spanish painter Aristides Artal, and depicts a very youthful Holy Family. Read more
Eight years ago, a small group of Trappist nuns founded a monastery in Syria, in the countryside along the border with Lebanon. The atmosphere, while heavily guarded, remains tense. Why do they stay when every day puts their lives at risk? An Italian news service recently interviewed the sisters. Read the conversation here. Last fall, Asia News profiled the sisters of Syria: For the sisters, the monastery is a tangible sign of hope. “A place where God is worshiped in... Read more
From the Vatican news site: Marking the feast of St Joseph the Worker and World Labor Day this Wednesday May 1st, Pope Francis launched an urgent appeal to Christians and men and women of goodwill worldwide to take decisive steps to end slave labor. Speaking during the general audience in Italian he said : “I would like to add a word about another particular work situation that concerns me: I am referring to what we could define as “slave labor”,... Read more
Details from the AP: The government is moving the morning-after pill over the counter but only those 15 and older can buy it – an attempt to find middle ground just days before a court-imposed deadline to lift all age restrictions on the emergency contraceptive. Today, Plan B One-Step is sold behind pharmacy counters, and buyers must prove they’re 17 or older to buy it without a prescription or else see a doctor first. Tuesday’s decision by the Food and... Read more
Before he became pope, he had some thoughts on the subject. Fr. Thomas Reese explains in the National Catholic Reporter: In On Heaven and Earth, the book he co-authored with Rabbi Abraham Skorka, Cardinal Bergoglio wrote, “One could deny communion to a public sinner who has not repented, but it is very difficult to check such things.” One should note that he said, “could” not “must.” And as an experienced pastor, he stressed the difficulty of checking whether a person is “a... Read more
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