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You might be committing grave sins on Facebook or Twitter without even realizing it…..
The ease and eagerness with which we insult and castigate one another online is bone-chilling. In the past few months, social media giants Facebook and Twitter have adopted increasingly restrictive censoring policies. Among many Catholics, there is a palpable outrage to these corporate actions. That’s understandable; after all, the right of free speech is a fundamental one in America. But there is an underlying problem of far greater concern: over the past few years, we Catholics have used these social media platforms to commit a multitude of sins. It’s easy to be infuriated over the misdeeds of another, but of this we can be sure: when you stand before the judgment seat of Christ, you will not be asked about Facebook or Twitter’s corporate policies. You will, however, be asked whether you...
French nun Sister Andre, Europe’s oldest living person, beats COVID-19 — just in time for her 117th birthday on Thursday…
Issued on: 09/02/2021 – 16:30 Europe’s oldest person, French nun Sister Andre, has survived COVID-19 and will celebrate her 117th birthday this week, her caregivers said. Advertising Read more Lucile Randon, who took the name of Sister Andre when she joined a Catholic charitable order in 1944, tested positive for coronavirus in her retirement home in Toulon, southern France, on Jan. 16. She was isolated from other residents, but displayed no symptoms. Asked if she was scared to have COVID, Sister Andre told France’s BFM television, “No, I wasn’t scared because I wasn’t scared to die… I’m happy to be with you, but I would wish to be somewhere else – join my big brother and my grandfather and my grandmother.” David Tavella, spokesman for ...
Dodge City bishop under Vos Estis investigation for alleged abuse of a minor…
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 9, 2021 / 10:13 am MT (CNA).- The Bishop of Dodge City is under a Vatican-ordered Vos estis investigation over allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas announced Feb. 8 that it was “made aware” that Bishop John Brungardt of Dodge City was accused of sexual abuse of a minor. The Vatican subsequently ordered his metropolitan, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, to conduct a canonical preliminary investigation into the matter. According to the Diocese of Dodge City, Brungardt was notified of the accusation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigations. He decided to step aside from his episcopal duties and informed Archbishop Naumann, and is cooperating with the KBI, the diocese said. The KBI confir...
Meet Sister Orsola Maddalena Caccia, the remarkable painter (and nun) whose work was just donated by surprise to the Metropolitan Museum of Art…
Thanks to an unexpected bequest, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art now boasts the largest collection of works by the Mannerist painter and nun Orsola Maddalena Caccia (1596–1676) outside the artist’s native Italy. Upon hedge-fund manager Errol M. Rudman’s death last year, he surprised the Met with a gift that included three works by Caccia, whose art is rarely represented in US museum collections—or even outside of the convent in Moncalvo, Italy, where she lived and worked. “I knew next to nothing about her when the gift came to us,” David Pullins, the Met’s associate curator in the department of European painting, told Artnet News. “Obviously, it’s extremely exciting.” Caccia’s father, Guglielmo Caccia, trained her as an artist and she went on to use...
Catholic schools in U.S. hit by unprecedented enrollment drop — the worst in 50+ years…
Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States has dropped more than 6% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses By DAVID CRARY AP National Writer February 8, 2021, 1:43 PM • 4 min read Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this article NEW YORK — Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in at least five decades, Catholic education officials reported Monday. Among the factors were the closure or consolidation of more than 200 schools and the difficulty for many parents of paying tuition fees that average more than $5,000 for grades K-8 and more than $10,000 for secondary schools, according to the National Ca...
Pope Francis tells diplomats: Right to life “from conception in the womb until its natural end” is basis for all other rights …
Vatican City, Feb 8, 2021 / 06:30 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis told diplomats at the Vatican Monday that it is “painful” for him to see more countries move away from “their inalienable duty to protect human life” from conception to natural death. “The pandemic forced us to confront two unavoidable dimensions of human existence: sickness and death. In doing so, it reminded us of the value of life, of every individual human life and its dignity, at every moment of its earthly pilgrimage, from conception in the womb until its natural end,” Pope Francis said in his annual address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See on Feb. 8. “It is painful, however, to note that under the pretext of guaranteeing presumed subjective rights, a growing number of legal systems in our world seem to be movin...
Ash Wednesday liturgical change: Starting Feb. 17, “One God, for ever and ever” will become “God, for ever and ever”…
A CHANGE TO THE CONCLUDING DOXOLOGY OF THE ORATIONS EFFECTIVE ASH WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2021 “One God, for ever and ever” becomes “God, for ever and ever.” In May of 2020 the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments wrote to the English-speaking Conferences of Bishops regarding the concluding doxology of the Collects in the Roman Missal (which also appear in other liturgical books). Specifically, the Congregation pointed out that the current translation – which concludes “… in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever” – is incorrect. There is no mention of “one” in the Latin, and “Deus” in the Latin text refers to Christ. Therefore, the correct translation, which is already reflected in the Missal in other languages (includin...
“Trans rights” and science, senators and the Uighur genocide, and soccer…
Happy Friday Friends, This week marks a month since JD and I launched The Pillar. And we’re still here. So thank you, sincerely, for that. When we went live on Jan. 4, I had no real expectations for how well we’d do, or how many people would want to read our work. It has been something of a shock to get so much generous feedback from you all. Since we got started, we have broken some news, raised a few eyebrows, and we’ve heard from readers from all over the place – bishops, pastors, chancery and parish staff. One cardinal had his lawyer write two very nice letters threatening to sue us. (Our lawyer said we probably should not say which cardinal. But I bet you can guess.) But most important to us, we’ve heard from lots of Catholics, from all walks of life, who understand what w...
This NYTimes article (“They Stormed the Capitol; Their Apps Tracked Them”) is a good reminder to check the privacy settings on your own devices…..
In 2019, a source came to us with a digital file containing the precise locations of more than 12 million individual smartphones for several months in 2016 and 2017. The data is supposed to be anonymous, but it isn’t. We found celebrities, Pentagon officials and average Americans. It became clear that this data — collected by smartphone apps and then fed into a dizzyingly complex digital advertising ecosystem — was a liability to national security, to free assembly and to citizens living mundane lives. It provided an intimate record of people whether they were visiting drug treatment centers, strip clubs, casinos, abortion clinics or places of worship. Surrendering our privacy to the government would be foolish enough. But what is more insidious is the Faustian bargain made with the market...
When troubles arise, reject disillusionment, run to Jesus, and respect His decision…..
In life we face many difficulties; they challenge us and our faith. Deep struggle can lead us to question God, His love, or even His existence. The readings today speak to us of these sorts of difficulties and prophetically interpret them for us. Let’s take a look at these readings in three stages. I. The Disillusionment of Deep Despair – The reading from the book of Job clearly articulates the feeling we have all experienced at one time or another. Job said, Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery? … I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me … then the night drags on; I am filled with restlessness until the dawn. My days … come to an end without hope … I shall not see happiness again. Job is weary and worried, angry and anxious, depressed and ...
Are tensions between Speaker Pelosi and her archbishop a valid news story?
The following is not a hypothetical case or a parable. This is the heart of the news story that was the hook for this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (click here to tune that in). Step one: Speaker Nancy Pelosi was a guest on Hillary Clinton’s “You and Me Both” podcast. As you would expect, since this was recorded a week after the stunning January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, they spent some time discussing their views on the Donald Trump years. This led to a discussion about the choices made by pro-life voters in the 2016 election. Here is some crucial material from a Catholic News Agency story about the exchange. … House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that support of pro-life voters for former President Donald Trump was an issue that “gives me great grief as a Ca...
At Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis prays for stability in Burma as protestors condemn coup…
Vatican City, Feb 7, 2021 / 06:14 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed Sunday for justice and national stability in Burma as tens of thousands protest the Feb. 1 military coup. “These days I am following with great concern the developments of the situation that has arisen in Myanmar,” the pope said Feb. 7, using the country’s official name. Burma is “a country that, since the time of my apostolic visit in 2017, I carry in my heart with much affection.” Francis held a moment of silent prayer for Burma during his Sunday Angelus address. He expressed “my spiritual closeness, my prayers, and my solidarity” with the people of that country. For seven weeks the Angelus was held via livestream only from inside the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace due to pandemic restrictions. But Sunday the pope returned t...
