Bergoglio’s List: The Untold Story of Pope Francis’ Heroism in the Face of Evil

Last updated on: December 9, 2014 at 12:33 pm By Kathy Schiffer

In 1976, the Argentinian military overthrew the government of President Isabel Perón in the so-called “Dirty War.” In the ensuing nine years, the dictatorship suppressed “subversives”–abducting, torturing and even murdering as many as 30,000 people. At the time of the Dirty War, a 39-year-old Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio–the future Pope Francis–was head of the Jesuit province in Argentina. There have been conflicting stories about what he did during the dark years of dictatorship: One rumor is that he did nothing, or worse–that he... Read more

Just Released: Vatican’s “Lineamenta” for the Synod Includes Questions on Pastoral Care for Divorced, Homosexuals

Last updated on: December 26, 2014 at 5:18 pm By Kathy Schiffer

The Vatican is gearing up for the 2015 General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, by releasing a 26-page Lineamenta for discussion by national bishops’ conferences around the world. A Lineamenta is a text written in preparation for a Synod, and is intended to encourage bishops to invite the participation of all in the Church, so that they can enter into discussion and take a pastoral inventory. According to the Catholic Herald, the preparatory document includes 46 questions. The Herald cites... Read more

Coming to a Theater Near You: The Vatican Museums in Glorious 3D

Last updated on: December 8, 2014 at 11:47 am By Kathy Schiffer

You never forget your first visit to the Sistine Chapel. Every trip to Rome is a great privilege, even for seasoned travelers–what with the cobblestones and the trattorias, the glorious architecture and columns and saints buried in little chapels on every street. Even a seasoned tourist can’t help but marvel at the magnificence of Renaissance art and the immensity of St. Peter’s Basilica. But back to the Museum: You buy a ticket and then you stand in line, waiting an... Read more

Technology Meets Tradition, As Pope Francis Lights Tree with a Tablet

Last updated on: December 8, 2014 at 10:26 am By Kathy Schiffer

The world’s largest Christmas tree is aglow again on a hillside above the Umbrian town of Gubbio. Pope Francis used a tablet to light the tree, which is made of 1,000 colored lights and measures 2,460 feet (750 metres) tall by nearly 1,500 feet (450 metres) wide. The Gubbio tree was listed in the Guinness Book of Records in 1991 as the “world’s largest Christmas tree.” In 2011, Pope Benedict touched the button which lighted the tree. Photo source: Vatican Radio Read more

“Sound the Bell of Holy Freedom”: Hymn for the World Meeting of Families

Last updated on: December 7, 2014 at 7:48 pm By Kathy Schiffer

On Sunday, November 30, worshippers at a Mass at Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul heard for the first time the hymn that will be played at Pope Francis’ Mass during next year’s World Meeting of Families. “Sound the Bell of Holy Freedom” was co-written by Norbertine Father Andrew Ciferni and Normand Gouin and was selected from 20 entries which were submitted by invitation only. The hymn opens with an allusion to Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell, and traces the life of... Read more

Pope Francis’ Quote of the Day: “God Has Bestowed on Me a Healthy Dose of Unawareness”

Last updated on: December 26, 2014 at 5:20 pm By Kathy Schiffer

You’ve just got to love it. In an exclusive interview with the Argentinian newspaper LA NACION, Pope Francis explained why he remains unflustered by all the talk about everything he does and says. “I just do what I have to do. From the start,” he said, “I said to myself, ‘Jorge, don’t change, just keep on being yourself, because to change at your age would be to make a fool of yourself.'” In the wide-ranging interview, the pope acknowledged some... Read more

Without Sin– Always. How Great Would That Be?

Last updated on: January 8, 2015 at 5:49 pm By Kathy Schiffer

December 8 – Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception “I am the Immaculate Conception.” The young girl shook her head—she didn’t understand what she was hearing. The Lady had just told her who she was, but it made no sense to Bernadette. She had never heard those mysterious words before. * * * * * Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, the illiterate daughter of a miller, eighteen times at the... Read more

Lafayette: The American Patriot Who Wasn’t Even an American Citizen

Last updated on: December 17, 2014 at 1:40 pm By Kathy Schiffer

Today, something different: The story of a hero in the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette. The following article is reprinted with permission from Image Books, publisher of The American Catholic Almanac by Brian Burch and Emily Stimpson. I’ve written before about the Almanac, and how much I enjoy its colorful stories of Catholics from all walks of life. I told the story of the Snowshoe Priest, Father Frederic Baraga, who carried the gospel message to the Chippewa tribe in... Read more

A GREAT EVIL: University’s Macabre Experiment Creates a Human-Mouse Hybrid

Last updated on: December 26, 2014 at 5:22 pm By Kathy Schiffer

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? –The Shadow In a macabre experiment that makes my head and my heart ache, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York, have blended cells of humans and mice to create a “super mouse” that’s four times as smart as an average mouse. To accomplish this, they injected the brains of baby mice with cells from “extra” human fetuses left over from in vitro fertilization. The... Read more

“COME TO DETROIT!”: Catholic School Leads Letter-Writing Campaign to Pope Francis

Last updated on: December 26, 2014 at 6:16 pm By Kathy Schiffer

Last spring, when word first leaked out that Pope Francis might be coming to America in September 2015, students at Detroit’s Cristo Rey High School launched a campaign to invite the pontiff to Detroit. Not content to include only their own invitations, Cristo Rey students asked students at three Detroit elementary schools–Gesu, Holy Trinity and Holy Redeemer–to write letters, as well. They started a Facebook page, “Let’s Bring Pope Francis to Detroit in 2015,” which is being followed by nearly 1,400 people.... Read more