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Our ole Kentucky meeting Skip to content Pillar subscribers can listen to this Pillar Post here: The Pillar TL;DR Hey everybody, Greetings from the road. As you read this Tuesday Pillar Post, I am on my way to Louisville, Kentucky, to cover the spring plenary assembly of the U.S. bishops’ conference.  I’ll be joined by The Pillar’s Ed Condon, as our team keeps you apprised on what’s happening at the USCCB meeting. The bishops are set to do a few things while they meet:  They’re expected to approve a draft pastoral plan for youth and young adult ministry. They’re expected to vote on a document for the pastoral care of indigenous people, which was pulled from the voting agenda during their November meeting. They will vote on the full text of the retranslated Liturgy of the Hours, t...

This isn’t the first time Vatican News has decided to use the controversial art. The Vatican is once again drawing criticism for using the artwork of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik in a Vatican News article on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 7. Father Rupnik, a priest and artist, has been accused of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse of religious sisters. He was removed from the Jesuits last June, and the Vatican has announced that Rupnik will face a canonical process over the abuse allegations after Pope Francis decided to waive the statute of limitations on the claims. Father Rupnik was briefly excommunicated in 2019 for absolving a woman with whom he had a sexual relationship in confession. His excommunication was lifted, and he continues his priestly dut...

By Dr. Jeff Mirus ( bio – articles – email ) | May 31, 2024 The Book of Proverbs is dull reading at times, since its proverbial statements are often repetitive. At other times, a colorful maxim may strike the reader very forcefully, making it an effective life-lesson. But there is a wry humor in this book as well, though it may often go unrecognized amidst the flow of platitudes. So imagine my delight when I came across this passage in chapter 23 (verses 29-35): Who has woe? Who has sorrow?Who has strife? Who has complaining?Who has wounds without cause?Who has redness of eyes?Those who tarry long over wine,those who go to try mixed wine.Do not look at wine when it is red,when it sparkles in the cupand goes down smoothly.At the last it bites like a serpent,and stings like an ad...

Not just as a Protestant, but as an American, I am not used to having history presented to me from a Catholic point of view. Here are four things Joseph Pearce’s “The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful” taught me, and can teach Christians of all denominations, particularly evangelicals. The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful: History in Three Dimensions, by Joseph Pearce (300 pages, Ignatius Press, 2023) While working on my doctorate at the University of Michigan, I lived for several years in a graduate dormitory that housed many international students. I still remember vividly when I walked down the hall to visit a student from Japan. She had a map of the world hanging on her wall; the moment I looked at it, my own world was turned upside down. For at the center of her map was not Africa...

[embedded content] Share via: When Everett Franklin was serving in Iraq as a Church of God Army chaplain, he had an encounter with a Catholic soldier that caused him to question how seriously he had been taking the Lord’s Supper. He shares how he continued to wrestle with what Jesus commanded his apostles to do in remembrance of Him, and why he chose to enter the Catholic Church on the feast of Corpus Christi. Services Marketplace – Listings, Bookings & Reviews Entertainment blogs & Forums

Embrace the strange, news to us, and Angel of the infield Skip to content Pillar subscribers can listen to Ed read this Pillar Post here. Happy Friday friends,  And a very happy feast of the Sacred Heart to you all. It is, of course, a great feast. Added to the calendar by Pope Pius IX in 1856, the devotion dates back to the 17th-century visions of the French nun St. Margaret Alacoque, who was given a special insight from the Lord into his personal love for us, and his desire to be honored with the symbol of his heart. It’s an intimate image — suffering, yearning, burning, longing, powerful.  It contains and conveys a divine devotion to each one of us that is passionate, consuming, crowned, bleeding, terrible, and triumphant. It is, like the Lord himself and his love for us, fasc...

NAMUGONGO, Uganda — In an extraordinary display of the vitality of the Catholic faith in Africa, a crowd of possibly more than 4 million people gathered for Mass today on the very same grounds where some of Africa’s earliest Catholics were put to death for their faith less than 140 years ago. The annual celebration of the feast day of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, 24 young converts who were martyred by King Mwanga in 1886, drew Catholics from across the continent and beyond to a vibrant, three-hour-long liturgical celebration at Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs in Namugongo, just outside of the nation’s capital of Kampala. The celebration marked 60 years since the Ugandan martyrs were canonized by Pope St. Paul VI in the midst of the Second Vatican Council, making them the Church’s firs...

Editor’s Note: This is Part 2 of an in-depth interview with Antonia Salzano Acutis on the news that her son will soon be canonized, making the first millenial saint. Find the first part of the interview here.  Carlo was openly religious in his high school. Yet he was not snubbed by his classmates. How come? Some people think that being religious is something that takes away from you, but it is something that gives to you. The problem is the insecurity that the majority of young people have today. This is an insecurity which is also the result of their education. They think that they must have the smartphone most in fashion, the right designer clothes, or they will fall into depression. Or they think they need to get plastic surgery because they don’t like their nose or body. In ...

In a letter addressed to Bishop Jacques Habert of Bayeux and Lisieux, Pope Francis commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Allied forces landing in Normandy. By Linda Bordoni Pope Francis’ letter commemorating the landing of the Allied Forces in Normandy on 6 June 1944 was read during a ceremony in Bayeux Cathedral on the eve of the anniversary, in the presence of religious, civil and military authorities. Expressing his closeness to all those present at the ceremony, the Pope reflected on the collective and military effort that led to the liberation of Europe and on the immense sacrifices made. “The landing generally evokes the disaster of this terrible global conflict, where so many men, women, and children suffered, so many families were torn apart, and so much destruction was ca...

One of the primary missions of Bl. (soon to be St.) Carlo Acutis was promoting 158 Eucharistic miracles that have occurred around the world. He spent the final years of his life creating a website and a panel display that are still very popular. Today we are announcing a NEW comic book series inspired by his Eucharistic miracle display! What’s unique about this is that we will visually portray each Eucharistic miracle in a narrative style. This first issue includes the miracles of Lanciano, Siena, and Santarem. You can see below a sample of our progress so far. We are currently offering a brief pre-order special until Friday, June 7, the feast of the Sacred Heart! Be on the look-out for more updates regarding this exciting new project!...

Since the triumphant end of Roe v. Wade two years ago this June, pro-lifers have suffered loss after political loss. Capitalizing on this pro-abortion tsunami, Democrats just announced a $100 million commitment to push abortion in an effort to win back the House of Representatives. On the state level, efforts to liberalize abortion laws continue to pop up on ballots across the country. What appears to be missing from the public discussion about abortion is a simple question: What is the engine driving the abortion numbers? Abortion, in various forms, has been around for millennia, but the astronomical spike in those seeking it out is quite new. Legalization and technology have certainly added to its numbers, but there must be more that has led millions of women — women from the w...