From antiquity Roman Christians have celebrated the day Saint Peter first arrived to Rome and presided over the Christian community.  Early records show that Romans remembered this event on January 18th.  Records also show that by the early fourth century another celebration linked to Peter called the Chair of Peter was celebrated in the city on February 22nd.  Both days became great celebrations of Rome’s first bishop, January 18th celebrated at a cemetery on the Via Salaria outside the city and... Read more

A small church in downtown Rome marks the site of the martyrdom of one of Rome’s beloved patron saints, Saint Lawrence.  Saint Lorenzo in Panisperna is today’s Lent Station Church of Rome. In the year 258 the Roman Emperor Valerian led a persecution of Christian leaders putting to death Pope Sixtus II along with his seven deacon assistants, Saint Lawrence among them. As deacon he was in charge of the temporal goods of the Church and oversaw the care for... Read more

A very ancient tradition still thrives in Rome, the Lenten Station Churches. During the pontificate of Pope Gregory the Great (6th century) each day of Lent was linked with a particular church of the city. In the olden days the Bishop of Rome would visit each church on its particular day as a means to foster unity within the Roman Church. In modern times, the Pope no longer visits every church during Lent, but does celebrate Mass on Ash Wednesday... Read more

I love Stephen Colbert not only because he always makes me laugh, but also because he is not afraid to defend the Catholic Church in his highly viewed show. He makes a great defense for the Eucharist and the Priesthood in this interview with Garry Willis who recently published a book titled Why Priests? A Failed Tradition.  Colbert amazingly points to several flaws in Willis’ understanding of the sacraments and the Church in general. Garry Willis identifies himself as Catholic,... Read more

Pope Benedict began his weekly Wednesday audience last week by offering a brief explanation for his retirement: “I did this [retiring] in full freedom for the good of the Church, after having prayed at length and having examined my conscience before God, well aware of the seriousness of the act, but equally conscious of no longer being able to carry out the Petrine ministry with the strength that it requires.  I am supported and enlightened by the certainty that the... Read more

  En el país de Israel hay un monasterio en un cerro de donde uno ve una de las ciudades más antiguas del mundo, Jericó, continuamente habitada por 11,000 años.  Del monasterio también uno ve el rio Jordán, el rio donde Jesús fue bautizado. Este monasterio donde aún viven unos monjes griegos marca el área del desierto donde Jesús pasó cuarenta días, marca el lugar donde ocurrió el pasaje del evangelio que escuchamos hoy.  El evangelio mismo narra como Jesús... Read more

Conclave literally means “with a key” since the cardinals who gather to elect a new Pope are kept locked away from all contact with the world until they elect a new successor of Peter.  The process by which a new Pope is elected has changed throughout the two-thousand year history of Christianity in Rome.  At times the Pope was elected by acclamation, other times the people, and clergy of Rome selected him and especially in medieval times, noble Roman families... Read more

Supernatural powers at work? Lightning struck Saint Peter Basilica in Rome this evening, the same day Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation as Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter. Certainly something supernatural will be happening in Rome next month as cardinals from throughout the world will gather to invoke the Holy Spirit to guide them in the selection of the next Pope. I was asked today if I feared the Pope’s resignation would lead to a void or chaos... Read more

The world woke up this morning with shocking news, the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.  After centuries of no Pope resigning, there are many questions as to how things will proceed.  It has been stated however that Pope Benedict XVI will move to the Papal residence in Castel Gandolfo when his resignation shall become effective and he will not take part in the Conclave for the election of his successor.  When renovation work on the monastery of cloistered nuns inside... Read more

Every year I post this same reflection  I wrote eight years ago. The bishop’s miter gently swayed from left to right in front of me as he intoned the Salve Regina. The unexpected yet familiar tune and the tightening of my mother’s grip on my arm awakened me… mater misericordiae. The procession progressed slowly down the path as the hope for a better tomorrow was condemned and as the joy of life was lost.  After emerging from a slumber of... Read more