Chaldean Archbishop Taken Hostage

Right after he had completed leading the “Way of the Cross” in a parish, from Reuters:
Gunmen kidnapped the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul on Friday in the northern Iraqi city and killed his driver and two companions, police said.
“He was kidnapped in the al-Nour district in eastern Mosul when he left a church. Gunmen opened [...]

Concerning the Words at Baptism

Say what Jesus said, or its not valid! From the Vatican Information Service:
 VATICAN CITY, 29 FEB 2008 (VIS) – Made public today were the responses of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to two questions concerning the validity of Baptism conferred with certain non-standard formulae.   The first question is: “Is a Baptism valid [...]

New Bishop for Lansing

Former rector of the Josephium and current Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Earl Boyea.

Web of Prayers for Papal Visit

Join your prayers for the success of the Papal Visit to the US here.

The Chair of Saint Peter

From The How-To Book of the Mass: Everything You Need to Know but No One Ever Taught You:
I made my first ever pilgrimage to Rome two years ago this very week. Traveling with me were my wife Amy and our children. The youngest, Michael Jacob was 13 months old at the time spent most of [...]

Red Moon

P. Benedict on Augustine the Author

From today’s General Audience via Asia News Italy:
An author beloved to Benedict XVI, as he himself said during today’s general audience, Saint Augustine is the Father of the Church who has left behind the greatest number of works.  “Some of these are of fundamental importance not only for Christianity, but also for the formation of [...]

Muslim Criticism and Support

For first Catholic Church in Qatar, from Asia News Italy:
The Catholic church of St. Mary, constructed as planned without a bell tower or cross, is close to inauguration.  In spite of the great modesty of the Catholic community, there is no lack of disagreement on the part of a Muslim intellectuals who are firmly opposing [...]

Head of German Bishops Conference Stirs Up Controversy

On celibacy, from Deutsche Welle:

In an interview with the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, 69-year-old archbishop of Freiburg, Robert Zollitsch, who is now head of the German Catholic Church, said that celibacy and the unmarried lives of priests were a “gift,” but not essential.
 
Furthermore, he said it would be a “revolution” if the celibacy tradition within [...]

Bill Clinton Blows up at Pro-Life Students

From Steubenville…from LifeSite:
“I gave you the answer. We disagree with you,” Clinton said. “You wanna criminalize women and their doctors and we disagree. I reduced abortion. Tell the truth, tell the truth, If you were really pro-life, if you were really pro-life, you would want to put every doctor and every mother as an accessory [...]

Many Thanks!

To the parish of Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida where I gave a parish mission last week. If I lived in South Florida, which unfortunately I don’t (its like summer there right now!), this is where I would go to Mass!
The celebration of Mass in this parish is exemplary–beautiful music that [...]

Pope: Carry Hope in Your Heart

On the Gospel for today, at his weekly Angelus, from Asia News Italy:
There were at least 30,000 faithful present for the Angelus in Saint Peter’s Square.  With them, the pontiff commented on the Gospel of the day, the second Sunday of Lent, which recounts the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor.  “The mountain”, Mount Tabor [...]

Pope Opens Beatification Cause of Sr Lucia

From Vatican Radio:
Pope Benedict XVI is dispensing with the five-year waiting period established by Canon Law to open the cause of beatification of Sister Lucia, one of the three Fatima visionaries.
The news was announced Wednesday evening in the cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, on [...]

One of My Books Reviewed

The Church’s Most Powerful Novenas
From Book Reviews and More:
This is a small prayer book full of big-time punch. I always find it hard to review prayer books. Either you like them or you don’t, which is like most books, but unlike fiction or theology it is a much more personal reaction. That being said, this [...]

Its Getting Tougher to be a Saint

Document coming out soon, from Catholic News Agency:
The Vatican will advise bishops around the world this next week to be more rigorous in their selection of the candidates they propose for sainthood, ANSA reports.
A 20-page document to be presented in the Vatican on February 18 will ask bishops to show “greater sobriety and rigor” in [...]