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In July, the United States held its first National Eucharistic Congress in 83 years — a monumental moment in the life of the local Church. However, it’s not the only Eucharistic congress that’s happening this year.  From Sept. 8 to Sept. 15, the 53rd International Eucharistic Congress will gather thousands of faithful from corners of the world in Quito, Ecuador, to celebrate the Eucharistic presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament. It marks the first time an Andean country has hosted an international congress and coincides with the 150th anniversary of the consecration of Ecuador to the Sacred Heart of Jesus made in 1874. The very first international Eucharistic congress was held in France in 1881, and since then, they have occurred every one to five years. The only times that...

Why are some people kind? This question is especially though of course not exclusively pertinent in forming the young. I think we take kindness for granted, forgetting both its central importance and the need to cultivate it, in self and others. “We are for the most part unhappy, because the world is an unkind world.” So wrote Fr. Frederick Faber, a noted author and close collaborator with John Henry Newman. He describes kindness as “the overflowing of self upon others. We put others in the place of self.” He says that kindness is our imitation of Divine Providence. But how is kindness cultivated? It seems that here two things are worthy of note. First, we should consider the unique power of showing kindness to those in whom we would form it. While all virtues are cultivated at least in pa...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The world’s attention on Venezuela has been focused in the last weeks on the fallout from a highly contested presidential election that both the ruling party and its opponents claim to have won, the ensuing persecution of critics and the arrest warrant against the former opposition presidential candidate. But as political tensions escalate, President Nicolás Maduro decided there was a more important matter to discuss: Christmas and the need to kick off the jolly season a tad early this year. In October, to be precise. “It’s September, and it already smells like Christmas,” Maduro said Monday night during his weekly television show. “That’s why this year, as a way of paying tribute to you all, and in gratitude to you all, I’m going to decree an early Christmas for ...

OPINION: Yale’s orientation coerced students to participate in ‘spell’ Yale’s Divinity School coerced students to read from a “spell” written by a “witch” as part of its Before the Fall Orientation. The three-day orientation between Aug. 21 to 23 saw a series of talks and activities preparing incoming students for the year ahead, interspersed with small group discussions. One of these small group periods was the first activity of orientation. Participating as an incoming student in one of these circles, I saw how the discussion opened with a set of “Restorative Circle Rules.” These rules boiled down to a warning to be open minded: all viewpoints were expected to be heard, that you only have to take what you want from the circle and participate as wanted – at least nominally. After this sho...

Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic. However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us. We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching. We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating. Services Marketplace – Listings, Bookings & Reviews Entertainment blogs & Forums

IVF is wrong, and so is this ramen Skip to content Pillar subscribers can listen to JD read this Pillar Post here: The Pillar TL;DR Hey everybody, Today is the feast of St. Gregory the Great, and you’re reading The Tuesday Pillar Post. Yesterday was a holiday, of course, and I spent it with my family enjoying the waning summer hours at the local pool. My kids were among the very last to get out of the pool for the summer, and I think that’s exactly how it should be. I hope your Labor Day was equally blessed — and that’s why you’re getting the newsletter a bit after noon, at least if you live on the East Coast.  If you don’t know who he was, Pope St. Gregory the Great was the vicar of Christ from 590 until 604. He was an evangelist, a diplomat, a keen interpreter of Scripture, a beauti...

Skip to content Few popes have lived in more perilous times than Pius XI and fewer still have shown as much courage in the midst of peril. There have been many bad popes throughout the history of the Church. Indeed, there have been so many that it is a miracle that the Church has survived them. On the other hand, of course, and thanks be to God, there have been many more good popes than there have been bad. Many of these have been canonized, an assurance to the faithful that they have joined the company of the saints in the Church Triumphant. Others were good and even great but, for whatever reason, have not been canonized. In recent times, we might think of Leo XIII, who encouraged and reinvigorated the study of the theology and philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, heralding the much-ne...

Q. Are faithful Catholics committing a sin by going to a nonpracticing Catholic’s wedding not in the Catholic Church? Also, if they are practicing Catholics, but not getting married in the Catholic Church, are we allowed to attend? I have received different answers from different priests; it is so confusing. — Mary A. There are two questions here: whether the marriages will be valid (i.e., whether they will come into existence); and whether, if they will not be valid, you may rightly attend the weddings. Are the Marriages Valid? The first question concerns validity. A valid marriage is a real marriage. When it’s between baptized Christians, it is a sacrament. The opposite, an invalid marriage, is not a real marriage. It is a semblance of a marriage.  There are several things necessary...

Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic. However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us. We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching. We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating. Services Marketplace – Listings, Bookings & Reviews Entertainment blogs & Forums

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio – articles – email ) | Aug 19, 2024 We sometimes hear that a particular person is not religious but is “deeply spiritual.” But spirituality detached from God’s good creation is out of touch with reality and can be harmful. Authentic Catholic spirituality engages body and soul, spirit and creation, divine faith and human reason—and avoids the excesses of materialism and spiritualism. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve lived in union with God. They enjoyed creation as God’s handiwork and His gift. The mysterious Tree of Life provided their sustenance. Their work in the Garden was not arduous. It was natural to them and expressed their human dignity. The unseen God and His creative handiwork were in perfect harmony. Original sin separated God and man a...

Getty Images Water buffalo are at home wallowing in wetlands (Credit: Getty Images) When water buffalo make a home for themselves in abandoned spaces, they can bring with them a rich array of frogs, bats and plant life. Each autumn, as tadpoles outgrow their tails, the Kizilirmak Delta on Turkey’s Black Sea erupts into chaotic commotion with the emergence of marsh frogs. While the fist-sized frogs are at home in the delta’s wetlands, dozens can be seen hopping out of the muddy waters to exploit one particularly strange and unusually lively hunting ground. Climbing up a hillside of thick fur, the frogs encounter terrain that’s warm underfoot and an atmosphere that buzzes with flies. But there are risks to foraging here. The surface beneath their webbed feet twitches and sh...

Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic. However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us. We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching. We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating. Services Marketplace – Listings, Bookings & Reviews Entertainment blogs & Forums