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A martyr elected and a king excommunicated…
On this day in the year 257 AD, Pope St. Sixtus II was elected to lead the still-illegal Christian Church, but his timing was anything but impeccable. St. Sixtus II (say that 5 times fast) depicted by Boticelli in the Sistine Chapel While the Church had indeed grown in its two centuries of existence, it was still time and again the target of persecution by Roman emperors for a wide variety of reasons, and our dear pontiff’s elevation to the Bishopric of Rome coincided with one of the most notorious ones. Valerian had been the emperor in Rome already for four years, but despite never setting foot again in the Eternal City, he sent a letter to the Senate that year instructing Christian clergy to sacrifice to Roman gods, and the following year ordered their execution. At any rate, St. Sixtus ...
USDA Exempts Religious Schools From LGBT Rule Change Threatening Free Lunch Funds…
“But public schools, charter schools, and secular private schools are not protected and remain under threat. Plus, other federal laws that lack religious exemptions may also apply. As long as the Biden Administration seeks to redefine what it means to be male or female in all federal laws, religious schools risk being punished just for maintaining Christian beliefs,” she added. Fifty-two percent of U.S. Catholic schools participate in the federal lunch program, according to the National Catholic Educational Association. Archdiocese of St. Louis withdraws from NSLP Despite the USDA’s clarification, the Archdiocese of St. Louis released a private memo on Aug. 16 telling archdiocesan schools to drop out of the lunch program. More in US Brecht Mulvihill, the archdiocese’s exe...
Forget the Twitter mobs and sniffy neighbors — for many Americans, cancel culture is self-inflicted…
Free societies emphasize the ability to voice opinions and debate with those who disagree without fear of penalty. Political systems that punish people for espousing “wrong” ideas are unfree no matter how they try to justify the constraints they impose on speech. But what happens when a society retains the forms of freedom, but its culture becomes intolerant of dissent and imposes unofficial penalties on those who stray in their public statements? Americans are finding out what it means to live that way with the resurgence of an old flaw called out early in this country’s history. “Social pressure to have the ‘right’ opinion is pervasive in America today,” notes Populace, a social-research organization, in a report published this summer. “In ...
Francis throws a gauntlet, and ‘maybe someday’…
Hey everybody, Today is the feast of St. Jeanne Jugan, the foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious community of women founded and dedicated to care for the elderly poor. Jeanne was born in France in 1792, amid the turmoil of the French Revolution. She was the sixth of eight children. When Jeanne was four, her father, a fisherman, was lost at sea. Her mother was left to raise the children on her own – and to secretly catechize them at home, with anti-Catholic persecutions on the rise in France. Jeanne, like all her siblings, was sent to work at a young age to keep the family afloat. She was a shepherdess, a seamstress, and then a kitchen maid in the home of a devout French noblewoman. The noblewoman, the Viscountess de la Choue, frequently took Jeanne with her when she’d br...
Vatican tries to mend Ukraine ties after Kyiv protests comments made by Pope Francis…
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register VATICAN CITY, Aug 30 (Reuters) – The Vatican acted to mend strained relations with Ukraine on Tuesday after Pope Francis upset Kyiv by referring to Russian ultra-nationalist Darya Dugina, who was killed by a car bomb near Moscow, as an innocent victim of war. Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba summoned the Vatican’s ambassador in Kyiv to protest, saying the pope’s words were “unfair” and had “broken Ukraine’s heart”. That move followed sharp criticism of the pope by Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican, Andrii Yurash. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Francis sparked the controversy last Wednesday while speaking off script at his ...
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The New York Times Magazine profiles Catholic podcasting star Father Mike Schmitz [NYTimes paywall]…
There are things that, at first blush, might appear marginal but are in truth major. Since it was introduced by the Catholic priest Mike Schmitz, who goes by Father Mike, in January 2021, the little-heralded “The Bible in a Year (With Fr. Mike Schmitz)” has been the most popular Apple religion podcast for a majority of 2021 and 2022 and has even, on two occasions, reached the No. 1 spot among all podcasts on Apple’s platform. The show has been downloaded 350 million times and an average of 750,000 times a day. Its popularity is easy to understand — the show goes down smoothly. Each 20-to-25-minute installment, designed according to a study plan developed by the Catholic biblical scholar Jeff Cavins, features two or three short scriptural readings and a pithy reflection by Father Mike, an a...
9 Lessons From the Conversion of Shia LaBeouf…
On Aug. 25, Bishop Robert Barron released a video interview with actor Shia LaBeouf, in which LaBeouf not only announced his conversion to the Catholic faith but rivetingly described the steps of what he calls his “salvific journey.” LaBeouf has appeared in 40 movies, four television films, 77 episodes for various shows and three video games. Winner of multiple acting awards, the 36-year-old is most famous for his leading role as Sam Witwicky in the Transformers series. But astride the fame, he has lived a troubled life. He appeared nude in 10 movies, with most featuring graphic sex scenes, an indication of his loss of shame and self-worth. He battled with alcohol addiction, plagiarized a script, was charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, criminal trespass, public intoxication,...
Vatican Says Pope Condemns War ‘Initiated by Russia’…
ROME – After a diplomatic rift caused by one of Pope Francis’s off-the-cuff remarks about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Vatican on Tuesday released a statement saying that he unambiguously condemns the “large-scale war in Ukraine initiated by the Russian Federation.” According to the Vatican’s press office, the many remarks by Francis and his collaborators on the war “are mostly aimed at inviting pastors and the faithful to prayer,” and calling for “solidarity and efforts to rebuild peace.” “On more than one occasion, as well as in recent days, public discussions have arisen about the political significance to be attached to such interventions,” says the statement. “In this regard, it is reiterated that the Holy Father’s words on this dramatic issue should be read as a voice raised ...
In the wake of the consistory, we need to debunk three persistent myths about cardinals…
Listen to this story: ROME – Pope Francis yesterday created 20 new cardinals, including 16 under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote for the next pope. It was Francis’s eighth consistory, and whenever we get a new crop of Princes of the Church, several chronic misconceptions tend to head once more unto the breach. Herewith, three conceptual mistakes to avoid in thinking about the men who wear the red. It’s not about liberals v. conservatives To begin with, there’s a natural tendency for Western handicappers to try to divide up the cardinals like they do everyone else, meaning in terms of where cardinals stand on the liberal/conservative divide. This generally works fairly well for Americans and Europeans – it’s not wrong, for example, even if it’s a little reductive, to think that new ...
Was King Arthur a real person? Is there any truth behind the legends?
By Joshua Hammer Photographs by Jooney Woodward A cold, wind-driven rain soaks through my parka as I walk across a narrow foot-bridge that links the Cornwall mainland in southwest England to a rocky promontory overlooking the Bristol Channel. Far below this cantilevered span, waves crash against the cliffs and swirl inside a grotto known as Merlin’s Cave. Win Scutt, a burly, amiable archaeologist from nearby Plymouth, opens a gate and leads me down a path to the ruins of a medieval castle. Its fragmentary walls mark the lair where Richard, the 13th-century Earl of Cornwall and the brother of King Henry III, is said to have gathered with his followers to feast on mutton and ale and pay homage to a monarch who may never have existed: King Arthur. Near the remains of Richard of Cornwall’s 13t...
Video: Spectacular shots from a drone camera flying over Mount Everest…
DJI is one of the most well-known drone manufacturers in the world, and while they probably don’t necessarily need any promotional work to spread their brand amongst drone enthusiasts, the video below is certainly going to help them to move some product. DJI sent one of their Mavic 3 drones with an expedition crew on Mt. Everest to prove that the device can withstand even the harshest conditions, and they managed to capture some absolutely spectacular shots while they were at it. Load this video up on your desktop, choose the maximum resolution, go full screen, and enjoy the next 3 minutes. DJI: “When we say Imaging Above Everything, we mean it. Discover more about the DJI Mavic 3: https://bit.ly/3yj0Vl7 Pick up your Mavic 3 now: https://bit.ly/3PzO6tw This is Mount Everest. The highe...
What true development in moral theology looks like…
Faith does not depend upon our own reasonings and feelings. It responds to the revelation of God, which exceeds all of our own capacities. On our own, we could not know God and could have no certainty of supernatural realities. This includes our happiness, which is not found in the realization of any earthly good; it is found in God himself, transcending every finite thing, including our own selves. Faith draws us to salvation by opening our minds and our whole being to God and his will for us, enabling us to partake even of the divine nature. Today, however, we often hear that the Church’s teachings are unpopular. Rather than conforming to the will of our maker, we would like to think that we know better. We seek our fulfillment in ourselves and not only excuse our sins, but e...
