Catholic League Tricked

October 31, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

Yesterday, Catholic League put out a press release with statements from CL’s president, Bill Donohue commenting on “Walmart’s Catholic Problem.” “Fat Girl Costumes” sold by Walmart were the subject of a deep apology and a pledge to rid the store’s inventory of such demeaning garb. Yesterday, when Catholics who are on our news release list complained to Walmart about three offensive Catholic costumes—a Virgin Mary with blood dripping from her eyes, a nun outfit with a skeleton head, and a... Read more

Are the Democrats Anti-Catholic?

October 27, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

Mark Miloscia, the Republican candidate for Washington State’s 30th district, has been targeted by the despicable ad above, which has since been removed from the website that hosted it. [Click on the image above to see a larger version.] But reportedly hard copies of it were put on display along with other materials for his opponent at a recent political event. I met Mark Miloscia while working on various projects in Washington. At the time he was a true blue... Read more

St. John Paul II: The First Lesson In Surviving. Anything.

October 22, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

Ok, it’s the first official feast of St. John Paul II, a man who was known by more people than any other contemporary figure in history. By this I mean, no one else in human history has been so familiar to so many people while he or she was alive. He was Pope for about 26 and a half years. Visited 129 countries, some of them repeatedly. Millions of people saw him, perhaps even more heard him, thousands met him.... Read more

Cardinal Burke – In or Out?

October 17, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

Buzzfeed has an interview with Cardinal Burke which makes it sound like he’s out. Sorta. But read carefully. Is he confirming a rumor or is it more? Nothing is formal. Then again, Pope Francis never confirmed him in his position as head of the Apostolic Signatura. Vatican watchers would be better able to judge the significance of that. For example, who else has not been confirmed in their positions? Read carefully this section from Buzzfeed: In the interview with BuzzFeed... Read more

3 Things You Can Expect From Synod 14.

October 17, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

Here are three things you can expect from the Synod - Chaos. The Vatican is not Italian. It's Roman. Do not try to impose your standards on it. You want Romans to be in charge of things like food, fashion, all things epicurean and aesthetic. They do bureaucracy well if you think bureaucracy is a good thing in the first place, hence a Vatican that almost everyone acknowledges needs to be reformed/re-orged/rebooted/re-everything. Look at this. This is how Romans park their cars. Read more

The Annulment Process: A Right And A Healing

October 16, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

Here’s a thought – maybe the annulment process can be a good and healing experience. Last week, I posted a guest perspective from Christine Cavanaugh, an annulment advocate in Seattle. Christine compared the apprehension that people feel about the annulment process to the feelings that they have about a root canal. I was struck by that because the concept of root canal is worse than the procedure itself. Based on colloquial expressions I thought that a root canal was one... Read more

Marriage is – Gasp – a Sexual Sacrament.

October 9, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

The National Post seems to be having a bit of fun with the response of a couple that has been married 55 years and recently gave their testimony at the extraordinary synod of bishops: “The little things we did for each other, the telephone calls and love notes, the way we planned our day around each other and the things we shared were outward expressions of our longing to be intimate with each other,” the couple said in a joint... Read more

Advice From An Annulment Advocate

October 6, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

The following is a guest post from Christine Cavanaugh, an Annulment Advocate in Seattle, Washington. Since we’ve heard a lot from experts in opinion but not quite as much from the experts who are actually involved in the process, I asked her for her insights. Here you go! Constructive and charitable comments always welcome in the com-boxes. When Catholics or RCIA candidates walk into a parish office to meet with an annulment advocate, they display all the eagerness of... Read more

Why I’m Grateful to Cardinal Kasper: “Remaining in the Truth of Christ.”

September 29, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

I am grateful to Cardinal Kasper. Indeed, I’ve long had a particular respect for him because I often attended daily Mass that he reverently offered at Santa Maria in Trastevere, a beautiful ancient Roman church with a vibrant parish community. He was usually assisted by seminarians and he was consistently emphatic in his teaching and formation of the seminarians even during the Mass. That made a lasting impression on me. I saw that he was a priest who took the... Read more

Pope Francis’ Pre-Synod

September 26, 2014 By Pia de Solenni

Opinions have not been lacking in the lead up to the Synod on the family, which begins in Rome on October 5. And now, as I read a preview copy of Remaining in the Truth of Christ, the response to by five Cardinals and some additional scholars to Cardinal Kasper’s The Gospel of the Family, I am more convinced than ever that Pope Francis essentially arranged a pre-Synod. First, there was the survey that was sent out to all the... Read more