It has been brought to my attention that yesterday’s post contained a number of errors. The person who is visiting the Roman pontiff is not, in fact, the Druid Archpriest Rowan Atkinson, but the famous Anglican clergyman, Archbishop of Canterbury, and leader of the worldwide Anglican communion, The Right Reverend Rowan Williams, pictured here. The man pictured in yesterday’s post is actually an English comedian and star of numerous very humorous films like Mr. Bean, Johnny English and Rat Race.... Read more

Druid Archpriest Rowan Atkinson will meet Pope Benedict XVI next week in Rome. The archpriest will seek the support of the supreme pontiff for his church’s plans to re-introduce human sacrifice in Britain. Archpriest Atkinson said, ‘Our most important shamans and witchdoctors are in favor of sacrificing disabled children. We believe this is an important ancient tradition which will relieve human suffering, and we are seeking the help of Christians everywhere. We call them to hear the words of their... Read more

Tomorrow there will be a Vatican meeting to discuss mandatory celibacy after the renegade Archbishop Milingo ‘ordained’ four married men. Pope Benedict has called a meeting to discuss the implications of Milingo’s actions. I expect Rome will take a hard line and continue to insist on mandatory clerical celibacy. To do anything else would look like they were actually taking Milingo and his band of activists seriously wouldn’t it? On the other hand, could the Pope actually be considering a... Read more

Will the present melt down in the Anglican Church cause more Episcopalian priests and people to come home to Rome? It looks like the snazzy new website for the Pastoral Provision is making things easier. The Pastoral Provision is Rome’s procedure for allowing married former Episcopalian and Anglicans to be dispensed from the vow of celibacy so they can be ordained as Catholic priests. This could be a very positive way forward for many Anglicans who are already close to... Read more

Last Thursday we flew from Greenville to Houston and connected to San Salvador. I was part of a small mission team associated with the Papal Foundation. We visited a village for the poor named Sideco. A dedicated group of lay people have started a new village to re-house the poorest of El Salvador’s poor. The village includes a market, clinic and school with a church about to be built. We are going to build a link between the school and... Read more

I’m off to El Salvador tomorrow for a five day mission trip with a medical mission associated with the Papal foundation. I’ve never been to Central America before, but I remember telling the Lord when I was a college student that I would go anywhere, but I really didn’t want to be a missionary to Central America. Be careful what you ask for. You might get it. Be careful what you ask not to have..you might get that too. Remember... Read more

Have you ever noticed that we love people for their faults and not their achievements? We might be impressed when someone sets a new world record, but we don’t love him for it. We might admire someone’s new face lift or promotion or increased salary, but we don’t love her for it. We might respect a person for writing a book or getting a degree or making a million, but we don’t love them for it. We might admire their... Read more

Paul Thigpen has a great new book out called Last Words: Final Thought of Catholic Saints and Sinners.On his deathbed, the man with the cruel, piggy eyes to the left cried, “All is lost. Monks, monks, monks. So, now, all is gone–empire, body, soul. Was this the final cry of a man who was lost, or was it expressed as a final regret for his violent and pitiless life? God only knows. Knowing the extent of his degradation, cruelty and... Read more

Writing from Columbus, Ohio. Marcus Grodi’s Coming Home Network is an apostolate that ministers to non-Catholic clergy who are on their journey to the Catholic Church. Marcus is the host of the popular Journeys Home program on EWTN. This year’s conference is on the English Reformation. Next Autumn it will be on the history of the church in the New World. This weekend I’ve been privileged to share the platform with English friends, Joanna Bogle and biographer Joseph Pearce. It’s... Read more

Julian of Norwich was a fourteenth century English mystic. One of the first female authors in English, she was an anchoress in a little church in the cathedral city of Norwich. She lived enclosed in her cell attached to the church where she received visitors, prayed and worshipped at Mass constantly. Her book Revelations of Divine Love is a wonderful classic of spiritual writing. In it she recounts her vision of Christ’s suffering and meditates on the ultimate meaning of... Read more