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Finding out that he was a likely to be trapped by the Italian quarantine, one American tourist tried to evade it by circumventing the authorities. Although he succeeded in his initial plans, he eventually came down with the disease, although eventually recovering. This wasn’t this past month, when thousands of Americans hopped on the last flights out of Italy to escape the impending lockdown to stop the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus; it was 1867, and the American was Mark Twain, who visited Europe during a cholera epidemic. In The Innocents Abroad, published two years later, Twain described a package tour of France, Italy, The Papal States (reduced to the trunk of what is now Lazio, it would fall to the newly unified Italian state in 1870), and the Holy Land. CREDIT: Twain’s Holy Land...

Cardinal George Pell. (Alexey Gotovsky/CNA.) A seven-member panel of justices decided March 12 they would need more time to consider whether to acquit the Australian cardinal or uphold his conviction. Legal experts and supporters of Cardinal George Pell are quietly confident he could be acquitted soon and possibly as early as next week after Australia’s highest court deferred ruling on an appeal to overturn his conviction. After two days of hearings in the Australian capital city of Canberra, a seven-member panel of justices decided March 12 they would take more time to consider whether to allow the appeal which is the cardinal’s last chance to clear his name. If the High Court justices agree to consider the appeal, which legal experts say is a technicality, they will then immediately...

Given today’s Gospel on Dives and Lazarus, we do well to ponder some of the teachings we have on Hell. Our Teach is largely St. Thomas Aquinas, with other sources as well. The teachings of the Lord on Hell are difficult, especially in today’s climate. The most difficult questions that arise relate to its eternal nature and how to square its existence with a God who is loving and rich in mercy. As a closing reflection on Hell and on the Four Last Things, let us ponder a series of questions. 1. Does God love the souls in Hell? Yes. How could they continue to exist if He did not love them, sustain them, and continue to provide for them? God loves because He is love. Although we may fail to be able to experience or accept His love, God loves every being He has made, human or angelic. The souls...

Jan van Kessel the Elder, “Still Life of Flowers and Grapes Encircling a Monstrance”, ca. 1670 “Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart.” As the coronavirus spreads, the list of canceled events has come to include even Catholic Masses. South Korea closed churches and in Italy, the Italian bishops’ conference announced that all public Masses and liturgical celebrations are suspended until April 3. As people adjust their habits to include more vigorous handwashing, for Catholics, aspects of their church worship are also being altered such as some holy water fonts have been emptied, handshaking and Communion from the chalice suspended, and one diocese has banned hymnals. But altering the ways of worship is nothing compared to canceling ...

Five decades ago, radical feminist Kate Millett and her eleven friends in New York City recited a type of litany, a feminist manifesto of sorts, that has proven to be remarkably effective: “Why are we here today?” the chairwoman asked. “To make revolution,” they answered. “What kind of revolution?” “The Cultural Revolution.” “And how do we make Cultural Revolution?” “By destroying the American family!” “How do we destroy the family?” “By destroying the American Patriarch.” “And how do we destroy the American Patriarch?” “By taking away his power!” “How do we do that?” “By destroying monogamy!” “How can we destroy monogamy?” “By promoting promiscuity, eroticism, prostitution, abortion, and homosexuality!” I’ve always been struck by the last line. Did those 12 women ever dream that...

Sunday’s Gospel about the temptation of Jesus in the desert by Satan evokes several questions. The answers I propose are not intended to be a theological treatise, but rather a pastoral reflection. I. Why does God permit temptation? God does not permit any evil or problem unless it can serve some greater good. In the case of temptation, He permits it because it summons us to love Him while giving us the freedom to reject or accept that call. God seeks sons and daughters who can love Him freely. Of God’s creatures, only angels and humans possess free will. We are summoned to love, but love requires the freedom to make choices. In giving us freedom, God permits alternatives to saying “yes” to Him. These alternatives present themselves as temptations. Temptation existed even in Eden, in parad...

Here are some of the most interesting things I learned this year: Having a younger brother reduces your earnings by 7% on average. (“The brother earnings penalty”) Amazon loses 1% in revenue for every extra tenth of a second customers spend waiting for pages to load on their website. (“Wait, wait, tell me”) There is still an iron curtain between Europe’s two major mouse species, the so-called “Squeaky Curtain.” Today, they interbreed only in a narrow zone 10 to 20 km wide near the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. (“‘Squeaky Curtain’ divides Europe’s Eastern and Western mice”) People who pray for hurricane victims donate less toward their recovery. When people were given the option of donating between $0 and $5, those who prayed gave $1 less on average. (“Thoughts and Prayers”...

> Italiano> English> Español> Français> All the articles of Settimo Cielo in English * On account of a “slight indisposition,” Jorge Mario Bergoglio had to follow from home, via the web, the spiritual exercises for the beginning of Lent, held in the village of Ariccia in the Castelli Romani and ended today, Friday March 6. But the pope must not have missed a beat of what was said by the preacher he ardently wanted this year: the Jesuit Pietro Bovati, 80, professor of Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute of the Gregorian University, adviser to the congregation for the doctrine of the Faith and  for twelve years a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, of which he is also secretary. Bovati is a biblicist of some renown, highly esteemed by Pope Fran...

When Lions Clash: Leo XIII vs. Leo Tolstoy Tolstoy taught a progressive sense of “liberation” from marriage. Leo XIII understood the illusory nature of this freedom. In 1893, Pope Leo XIII established the Feast of the Holy Family. At the time, the family faced threats from the state and progressive movements like socialism. This year, we mark the 140th anniversary of Leo XIII’s encyclical Arcanum Divinae (“Divine Mysteries”). The encyclical Arcanum sought to uphold the Christian family in light of the “progressive” threats of civil marriage, polygamy and divorce. Pope Leo XIII faced a formidable literary opponent at the time — Leo Tolstoy, whose works War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877) were celebrated as masterpieces. Tolstoy virtue-signaled “traditional family values,” presenti...

LEFT: Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato, “The Madonna in Sorrow.” RIGHT: Oprah Winfrey speaks Saturday to a crowd of 15,000 in Denver (Photo by Tom Cooper/Getty Images). Until we find new ways to reach women and help them to see the deadly ideology that is sold to them every day as truth and light, the culture of death will continue. Recently, two alarming studies have surfaced showing just how uneducated Catholics are about key issues, particularly the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the immorality of abortion. As talking heads scramble to both help explain and remedy this situation, one question hasn’t been addressed: Are we doing the messaging wrong when it comes to educating women about the Catholic faith? Reaching Catholic women is a vital issue. As the heart of the...

ROME – Though it’s impolitic to say so out loud, probably no institutions on earth are benefitting more from the coronavirus panic right now than manufacturers and retailers of hand sanitizers, medical masks, facial tissues, and so on. Costco just reported a 3 percent sales spike in February alone due to off-the-chart demand for such products. A close second in terms of a coronavirus bump, however, might well be the Vatican. For one thing, the Vatican was recently on the verge of a full-blown health scare around Pope Francis, as he cancelled a series of events due to what’s been described as just a “light cold.” Under normal circumstances, such reassurances would only hold for so long. Now, however, the Vatican can cancel or curtail as many papal events as it wants, and no one will bat an ...

ROME – A mini-panic broke out in Rome Tuesday following an article in the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero by veteran Vatican reporter Franca Giansoldati, who reported that Pope Francis has undergone a test for the coronavirus and the results were negative. Prompting the ferment is the fact that Francis has been suffering from what’s been described by the Vatican as a “light cold,” which has caused him to cancel several public engagements over the last week and to restrict himself to appointments within the Domus Santa Marta, the hotel on Vatican grounds where he’s chosen to reside since his election in 2013 – the anniversary of which will be marked in just a few days. Francis also was forced to bail on the annual Lenten retreat for the Roman Curia held in Ariccia, a town nestled in the hills...