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‘Descent Into Hell’: As Jesuits and Vatican Do Damage Control, Former Loyola Community Sister Speaks Out on Rupnik Allegations…
An alleged victim of Slovenian Jesuit artist Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik detailed on Sunday the sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse she said she suffered as a religious sister, in a new interview with Italian media. Allegations against the Jesuit priest have become a point of scandal in the Church, after Rupnik was accused of serially abusing Slovenian consecrated women in the 1980s and 1990s. The allegations were sent to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2021, but have not resulted in canonical prosecution — with Society of Jesus officials saying they were informed that Rupnik would not be canonically prosecuted for the alleged abuse, owing to the canonical statute of limitations. That claim has sparked controversy in the Church, with journalists and victims’ advocates askin...
Your Nativity Set is a miniature replica of the Catholic Church…
It is a nearly universal practice among Catholics to have a nativity set in our homes and surely in our parishes. Not only does the nativity set remind us of the birth of Christ, it is also a miniature replica of the Church. In the scene we see God (Jesus) and man, saints (Jesus Mary and Joseph) and sinners (all the rest), the rich (the Magi) and the poor, (Mary Joseph, Jesus and the shepherds). We see the learned (the Magi) and the simple (the shepherds). There are Jews and Gentiles since the Magi are Gentiles and the rest are Jews. In this midst of this diverse scene, Jesus is found! While it may seem “institutional” to ponder the Church on Christmas Day, please realize that it is not. The Church is not an institution, the Church is the Body of Christ; He the Head of the Body, the ...
St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, Pray For Us!…
Having authored the “Saints and Art” series for more than a year, I would be remiss if I omitted my own patron, St. John the Evangelist. Traditionally regarded as the author of the Fourth Gospel, of three epistles (1 John is the First Reading for most days in Christmastide) and the Book of Revelation, he is generally deemed the younger son of Zebedee and Salome and the younger brother of the Apostle James the Greater. Tradition, indeed, treats him as the youngest of the Apostles. He is also the “Beloved Apostle,” Jesus’ favorite, the only one not to desert him during his Passion and Death, the one to whom he entrusts his Mother. James and John are called “sons of thunder,” which says something both about their supernatural zeal and natural temperaments: they’re the ones who suggest Jesus r...
9 Eye-Opening Tips We Learned About Coffee in 2022…
Throughout the dizzying highs and lows of 2022, one thing stayed constant: our collective love of coffee. Whether you’re an espresso elitist or a Starbucks loyalist, if you drank coffee this year, you helped contribute to a record-breaking year of coffee sales. In the United States alone, roughly 400 million cups of coffee were consumed every day this year (whew!). In our never-ending search for the *perfect* morning cup, we spent this year tapping coffee experts for their advice on all things java. Read on to discover our favorite coffee tips of 2022. The 9 most eye-opening things we learned about coffee this year 1. Coffee shouldn’t be the first thing you drink in the morning While most of us depend on the energy-boosting properties of coffee to get us going in the a.m., doctors say that...
Europe Approaches 2023 With More ‘War and Rumors of War’ as Serbia Puts Army on High Alert Near Kosovo…
By Stefan J. Bos Scuffles have broken out between Kosovo’s security forces and the troubled nation’s Serbian minority. Kosovo police say they suffered three successive firearm attacks on one of the roads leading to the border. NATO’s embattled peacekeeping force KFOR says it is also investigating shots being fired in the direction of its Latvian soldiers. While there were no injuries or material damage, the clashes have raised concerns that Serbia may intervene militarily. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he ordered the army’s highest state of alert to protect Serbs. “I wish to inform you that we are indeed in a difficult situation. But we will give our utmost. We will care about how to preserve peace and stability. And not only that, how we will protect our people in th...
Jesus Christ, the True Light, Has Come Into This World…
COMMENTARY: The Nativity of the Lord illuminates our lives. What happened on Christmas night more than 2,000 years ago fundamentally and irrevocably changed the path of humanity. “When peaceful stillness lay all over and the night was half spent, your Almighty Word, O Lord, descended from heaven’s royal throne” (Wisdom 18:14-15). This night, God and man become one, God and man are reconciled, and God and man begin a new path in history. That is the profoundly Good News of Christianity, not just this night, but every day and every night for the past more than 2,000 years. It’s hard to comment on the readings of Christmas because, by tradition, there are three different Christmas Masses: at midnight, at dawn and during the day. To them has been added a vigil Mass for the evening ...
Cardinal De Donatis just released a peculiar statement about Jesuit Fr. Marko Rupnik that raises several questions while answering very few…..
A screen grab shows Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik, an artist and theologian, giving a Lenten meditation from the Clementine Hall at the Vatican in this March 6, 2020, file photo. Father Rupnik, whose mosaics decorate chapels in the Vatican, all over Europe, in the United States and Australia, is under restricted ministry after being accused of abusing adult nuns in Slovenia. (CNS photo) The Diocese of Rome has issued its own statement regarding Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik, SJ, the world-famous Jesuit artist-priest accused of serial sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse of at least nine women over a period of several years. CWR has its translation of the statement in English, below, but it is unlikely to satisfy anyone and in fact raises several questions while answering very few. Rupnik was qu...
The delicious history of the diner — a vinyl-and-formica icon of post-World War II Americana…
The history of diners is, in many ways, the history of the United States in the second half of the 20th century. But some would argue that diners actually trace their lineage back through the kafenio, a Greek coffee shop with origins in the Ottoman Empire. [embedded content] In this episode of Food History, host Justin Dodd explains how diners proliferated throughout the United States, and touches on what they mean to the country’s culture and cuisine. Lunch wagons, the diner’s predecessor. / SOPA Images/GettyImages Diners (then known as lunch wagons) began as mobile food wagons that would come out at night to serve simple meals to workers on the third shift. They were literal wagons—carts pulled by horses. Although street food vendors have existed as long as cities have, most had simple s...
Jimmy Lai is penned up in a Hong Kong prison because the Communists hate and fear him. Here’s how you can send him a message of love and hope…..
A suffering Christ hangs from a cross, appearing thin and emaciated, sketched in black pencil, the only media available in a small jail cell inside Hong Kong’s Stanley Prison. Another image, with a bit of color, depicts Our Lord looking forlorn, wearing a crown of green thorns with red blood pouring from his hands, feet and his gouged side. The Blessed Mother, drawn in color, with golden-blonde hair and a silhouette of light radiating from her head, is portrayed with head bowed. Original drawing by Jimmy Lai sent to the Ponnuru family. Betsy Ponnuru (12), a seventh-grade student at the Basilica School of Saint Mary in Alexandria, Virginia, helped coordinate the postcard campaign from the school’s students. (Photo: Courtesy photo) These images are a few of the portraits tha...
Pope at Christmas Urbi et Orbi: ‘The Lord’s Birth Is the Birth of Peace’…
By Thaddeus Jones Offering his Christmas greetings from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis gave his customary Christmas Day message and “Urbi et Orbi” blessing. The Pope greeted the thousands of pilgrims gathered in the square on a sunny and mild day for this time of year. God with us Before imparting his “Urbi et Orbi blessing (“to the city and the world”), the Pope gave his Christmas message underscoring the joy this day brings when we “turn our gaze to Bethlehem,” and the “Lord comes to the world in a stable and is laid in a manger for animals” since there was no room at the inn when Mary was to give birth. “The true light, which enlightens everyone was coming into the world,” he reca...
Watch Linus’ Christmas speech again — and this time, notice what words he says when he drops his security blanket…
[embedded content] Watch for it at the 0:39 second mark… Join Our Telegram Group : Salvation & Prosperity
How to make perfect bacon in your oven…
Photo by Joe Lingeman I think we can agree that crispy, smoky bacon is one of life’s greatest pleasures. However, standing over a hot stove dodging sputtering bacon grease is not. Here is how we can have the best of both worlds: an easy, simple, hassle-free method for cooking perfect bacon, all in the oven. It’s the perfect way to cook a lot of bacon all at once, enough bacon for a crowd! Why the Oven Is Best for a Big Batch of Bacon I was a skeptic of oven-baked bacon at first. Give up cooking the long strips in my beloved cast iron skillet? Really? There’s just something that feels so nostalgic and right about cooking bacon that way — tenderly flipping and monitoring the progress of every slice, although yes, while nursing the occasional oil-spatter burn. For a few quick slices, I still ...
