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How the Holy Eucharist put an end to my childhood anxiety about ‘the Rapture’…
The house was empty. “Where is everyone?” I thought. I was 9 years old, and had just returned home from school. We lived in a quiet town, and my parents were rarely away. “Mom?” I called out. Nothing. I began to feel anxious. It occurred to me that my parents may have been “raptured,” taken up suddenly into the heavens by Jesus. Was I “left behind?” But I knew that my urgent prayer to Jesus at the age of 5 had saved me once and for all. If my parents were raptured, the Tribulation was now beginning, and seven years of horrific trials would follow, and I was all alone and — “Carl? Is that you?” My mother came through the door. She had been visiting the neighbor. My anxiety about the Rapture evaporated. For a while. A turning point came in my second year of Bible college. One day...
Cuban Dictatorship Fines EWTN Correspondent and Threatens Him During Interrogation…
‘He told me that he was officially warning me that I could be criminally prosecuted if I continue to publish,’ the journalist said. HAVANA — On Friday, the police of the dictatorship in Cuba interrogated Adrián Martínez Cádiz, EWTN correspondent in Havana, and later fined him 3,000 Cuban pesos (about $125) for having criticized the regime on social media. The Territorial Control Office of the Cuban Ministry of Communications issued an official document in which it determined that the journalist violated Decree Law 370 by “disseminating, through public data transmission networks, information contrary to the interests of society, morals, good customs, and people’s safety.” Therefore, continues the Oct. 21 document, “the competent authority proceeded to impose a fine for a value o...
At Jesuit University, Member of Pontifical Academy for Life Defends ‘Legal Abortion Prior to Pain’ Threshold…
LOS ANGELES — Roberto Dell’Oro, a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, publicly urged support for legal abortion prior to the possibility of fetal pain during a recent panel discussion sponsored this month by Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. During an Oct.12 panel discussion, entitled “Confronting the Dobbs Decision: A Conversation About the Legality of Abortion,” Dell’Oro, a bioethicist and theologian at the university, and two other LMU panelists criticized the U.S. Supreme Court’s majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Organization, the 2022 landmark decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. In prepared remarks, Dell’Oro attacked the Dobbs ruling for failing to uphold democracy, which “maximizes rather than restricts a space of personal freedom...
Blessed Karl of Austria continues to inspire young Catholics…
An interview with Princess Maria-Anna Galitzine, the granddaughter of Blessed Karl of Austria and his wife, Servant of God Empress Zita. Blessed Karl of Austria died in 1922. He was the last Emperor of Austria and the last Apostolic King of Hungary. One would not think that this man would have much in common with young Catholics in the U.S. However, since his beatification in 2004, it has precisely been young U.S. Catholics who have fueled his cause for canonization. The various feast day Masses and symposia that occur around the U.S. (and the world) are packed with young people. Not only are devotees young, but they are dedicated to traditional Catholicism and pious practice. The Traditional Latin Mass, the Byzantine Divine Liturgy and various devotions are celebrated in conjunction with ...
You’re probably praying like a Pharisee without even realizing it. Here’s what you need to do to fix that…..
Jesus is God, and he has been listening to us pray all our lives. And after all he has heard, he wants to tell us how it sounds from his perspective on the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C. He asks us a question he already knows the answer to: Are our prayers — yours and mine — more like the proud petitioner who thinks he is doing pretty great in his spiritual life, or are they more like the sad sinner who knows he isn’t doing very well at all? It’s statistically very likely that you and I are more like the proud guy than the humble one. St. Luke begins by saying “Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness.” If you asked those who know us, the chances are that they would put us in that group. Nearly 90% of respondents thought Christians were judg...
For Second Time, Vatican Renews Agreement With China on Appointment of Bishops; Terms of Deal Remain Secret…
After the China deal was signed in 2018, state officials in different regions of China removed crosses and demolished church buildings, and underground Catholics and clergy have reported harassment and detention. The Vatican announced Saturday it has renewed its 2018 deal with China on the appointment of Catholic bishops for an additional two years. “After appropriate consultation and assessment, the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China have agreed to extend for another two years the Provisional Agreement regarding the appointment of Bishops,” the Vatican said in an Oct. 22 press release. “The Vatican Party,” it continued, “is committed to continuing a respectful and constructive dialogue with the Chinese Party for a productive implementation of the Accord and further development of...
We should apologize to the North American martyrs…
By Phil Lawler ( bio – articles – email ) | Oct 19, 2022 Every year on this date—the feast of the North American martyrs—I find myself asking the same sort of questions. Were those Jesuit missionaries of the 17th century guilty of proselytism? Did they respect the indigenous cultures? Would St. Jean de Brebeuf have asked for a blessing from an Iroquois shaman? How would St. Isaac Jogues have responded to the veneration of the Pachamama? We revere the missionary martyrs, who willingly gave their lives in an effort to bring souls to Christ. But today we shy away from the work they set out to do. Were they wrong, or are we? When Catholic leaders apologize for a failure to respect indigenous cultures, are we apologizing for these martyrs? If so, why do we keep their names on our li...
‘I couldn’t believe how easy it was’ — This mom imposed a ‘screen detox’ and it changed her family’s life for the better…..
If your kids are constantly on their devices, squinting at tiny screens and ignoring everyone around them, you might have a problem brewing. Too much screen time for children can contribute to behavioral problems and loss of social skills, among other risks. Photo Credit: Libreshot Mom blogger, Molly DeFrank knew about the risks, but she was also concerned about their overall lack of engagement with life around them. It was time, she thought, for a screen detox. She wrote on her blog: “I knew screens were having a negative impact on my kids, even though we only allowed an hour a day. One day when I got home after running errands, my kindergartener greeted me at the door with, “Can I play on your phone?” Nope. That was the last straw. My husband and I decided that we needed a course correct...
Spanish Bishop Makes New Statement on Alleged Apparitions at Garabandal…
The alleged extraordinary events took place in the small village of San Sebastián de Garabandal between 1961 and 1965. The bishop of Santander, Manuel Sánchez Monge, has stated regarding the extraordinary events of Garabandal that “my position, like that of my predecessors, is that Rome’s assessment remains valid: ‘There are no signs of supernaturality.’” In addition, he acknowledged that he contacted the San Pablo Center of University Studies (CEU) to express his displeasure because they had not consulted him before hosting an event of devotees of the alleged apparitions. “I only let those at the CEU know, not Cardinal Osoro, that I did not like that they had not consulted me before authorizing that event,” the prelate told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency. The ...
Major Survey of Catholic Priests Finds Trust Issues, Burnout, Fear of False Allegations…
WASHINGTON — A study that claims to be the largest national survey of Catholic priests conducted in more than 50 years has found that despite relatively high levels of personal well-being and fulfillment among priests as a whole, a significant percentage of priests have issues with burnout, distrust in their bishop, and fears of being falsely accused of misconduct. Conducted by The Catholic Project, a research group at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the study released at an Oct. 19 press conference used survey responses from 3,516 priests across 191 dioceses and eparchies in the United States. The study also draws on in-depth interviews with 100 of those priests and a survey of U.S. bishops, 131 of whom — or about two-thirds of the total — responded. The study is f...
Groundbreaking survey finds U.S. priests are ‘flourishing’ — but they don’t trust their bishops…
Priests and bishops in the United States report overwhelmingly that they are “flourishing” in ministry, despite pressures caused by two decades of clerical abuse scandals and Church responses. But while U.S. priests report high levels of personal well-being, they also have a widespread lack of confidence and trust in their bishops, according to a study released Wednesday by The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Priests reported that they are less likely to seek personal support from their bishop than they are from any other source, and said they believe bishops regard priests as “liabilities” and “expendable.” Bishops have had mixed initial reactions to the survey’s findings. One bishop told The Pillar he is grateful for the report, and praised the work of priests in Americ...
My journey from Wicca to the Catholic Church…
Share via: I grew up in the beautiful mountains of Colorado with loving parents. We were not religious at all; in fact, our family had an anti-Christian attitude. I believed in an impersonal God and had a deep devotion to angels, though I am not sure where those beliefs originated. My parents worked hard to provide for my brother and me, and they instilled in us a strong sense of right and wrong. We were a tight-knit family. Wicca, a Family Affair When I was 11 years old, my brother and I were playing in our yard. We stumbled upon a stone circle we had never noticed before; the stones and the circle were clearly placed by human hands, in a pattern that pointed to their ritualistic purpose. Thinking satanists must have snuck into our yard and built this thing, we proceeded to destroy it by ...
