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Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego celebrates Mass on the campus of the University of San Diego during Mass at The Immaculata Catholic Church Sept. 8, 2022. (CNS photo/David Maung) Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, bishop of San Diego, in his widely contested recent essay in America Magazine, wrote, “The heart of Christian discipleship is a relationship with God the Father, Son and Spirit rooted in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” But the rest of the essay makes me think of the question posed in the famous fast food commercial from my youth: “Where’s the beef?” In his 3,000-word commentary published Jan. 24, Cardinal McElroy expresses many important laments that pertain to the Church’s life and mission today, many of which should be of concern to each one of us. He is...

Why the new Smithsonian Latino exhibit is a ‘travesty:’ Gonzalez What to watch next Click to expand Replay Video UP NEXT The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum kicked out a dozen Catholic high school students and their chaperons for wearing beanies inscribed with pro-life messages. On January 20, students and chaperones from Our Lady of the Rosary School based out of Greenville, South Carolina, traveled to Washington, D.C. for the annual National March for Life. The group was all wearing matching blue beanies with the words “Rosary PRO-LIFE.” The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), representing the parents of some of the students involved, alleged that the museum staff mocked the students, hurled expletives and claimed the museum was a “neutral zone” ...

Detail from “Christ and the Rich Young Ruler” (1889) by Heinrich Hofmann (WikiCommons) I have written of my concerns in the past with the German Synodal Process, as well as concerns with other bishops and cardinals and their take on the process. They essentially ignore the oft repeated words of Pope Francis, that in the synodal process there must be a deep listening to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth and charity that keeps us firmly attached to Jesus Christ. Pope Francis has made it clear that the synod on synodality is not about changing long standing Church teaching and is not a democratic or parliamentary process. In a recent article, my brother bishop, Cardinal Robert McElroy, laid out a vision of the church in the context of synodality calling for “radical inclusion”....

Did Archbishop Fulton Sheen prophesy about these times? In a talk 72 years ago, Bishop Fulton Sheen appeared as visionary as prophets of old. “We are at the end of Christendom.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen said during a talk in 1947. Making clear he didn’t mean Christianity or the Church, he said, “Christendom is economic, political, social life as inspired by Christian principles. That is ending — we’ve seen it die. Look at the symptoms: the breakup of the family, divorce, abortion, immorality, general dishonesty.” Prophetic then, he was already a visionary and forewarning in the Jan. 26, 1947, radio broadcast. “Why is it that so few realize the seriousness of our present crisis?” he asked 72 years ago. Then gave the answer: “Partly because men do not want to believe their own times are wicke...

There are plenty of cities, towns, and rural escapes around the world that are so stunning and so widely photographed, it’s hard to appreciate the beauty when there are swarms of tourists clogging up the views. And we’re not knocking those places—they really are worth the trek. But how about spots just as gorgeous, but with a fraction (or maybe even none) of the crowds? Sure, some require multiple forms of transport and maybe even a local expert to point you in the right direction (or take you there), but once you’ve arrived, you’ll want to repeat the entire journey just to get a second look. We scoured the globe and narrowed down 20 of the most spectacular places everywhere from Africa to Antarctica. Bet your friends can’t claim to have already seen any of these amazing travel destination...

People love pretty lies, so the world needs Christians who are willing to say hard things in a convicting way. Or, to put it another way, “You are the salt of the earth.” At the same time, people feel embattled and crushed by life, so the world needs Christians to say encouraging things about our ultimate purpose. In other words: “You are the light of the world.” This is the paradox that has made the Gospel reading for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A one of the best remembered, most cited, and at the same time most mysterious passages in the Bible. Last Sunday Jesus explained what makes you “Blessed” — this week he tells you what makes you a blessing. As Lent approaches we are getting Christianity 101 on Sundays; the Sermon on the Mount in slow motion. After launching Jesus’s mini...

COMMENTARY: Cardinal Robert McElroy’s comments last week, arguing the synod is the correct place to overturn core Catholic teachings, have spotlighted how the Synod on Synodality’s leaders are themselves manipulating the process in pursuit of this same objective. The recent letter to the world’s bishops from Cardinal Mario Grech, head of the Vatican synod secretariat, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the Synod on Synodality, shows that managing a synod is not as easy as it used to be. The previous synods under Pope Francis were relatively easy to handle compared to the current synodal process on synodality for a synodal Church. Back then, the synod managers, after hearing everyone, would just insert into the interim or final reports whatever they wished.  Origins...

Note from the Author: Copy/paste GPS Coordinates listed below into Google Maps to see or travel to each location. When I was stationed in Turkey, I had the opportunity to travel much of the country, however, the massive Anatolian Plateau in Central Turkey–comprised of the ancient provinces of Galatia, Phrygia, Pisidia, Lower Armenia, and Pontus–alluded me. Once I returned home from Turkey, I did a lot more research about the holy heroes of our faith who traversed Turkey’s “Great Plains” in ancient times and where they went. After 10 years, I was able to journey back to Turkey to follow in the footsteps of some of the Church’s greatest Saints: St. Paul the Apostle and St. Barnabas, St. Timothy, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Blaise, and St. John Chrysostom. I was also ex...

Happy Friday friends, And a belated happy Candlemas to you all. For those of you playing along at home, this really is the weekend where, if you haven’t taken down your Christmas lights by now, your neighbors now have license to judge you for it. Candlemas is, of course, not just some arbitrary day when your husband acquires the canonical right to forbid you playing Christmas music in the house and car (I’m kidding darling, this is just a joke), it is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple. I love this feast, though I missed the chance to mark it properly yesterday, I spent most of yesterday on a plane. This newsletter is coming to you from Dallas, where JD and I (and Michelle) have come to record a podcast doubleheader at the University of Dallas today and tomorrow as par...

In London on Feb. 2, 1601, a group of recusant Catholics (who refused to attend Church of England services) gathered in a rooming house to commit a crime: celebrate and attend Holy Mass. Although our liturgical calendar doesn’t completely reflect it in the season of Ordinary Time, the Feast of the Presentation, also called the Feast of the Purification of Mary or Candlemas, is the last feast of the Christmas cycle. Forty Days after Our Lord’s Nativity, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, as St. Luke’s Gospel tells us, fulfill their obligations of purification and offering at the Temple. It’s finally time to put the Nativity crèches and festive greenery away; Christmas is officially over. On the liturgical calendar for the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite, the pre-Lenten season of S...

> Italiano> English> Español> Français > All the articles of Settimo Cielo in English If you want to receive (or go back to receiving) a notification for every new article, click HERE and subscribe to the Newsletter from Settimo Cielo! * It could very well come as a stunner that a bishop would see the need to speak out in defense of a doctrine that at first glance is beyond dispute, within the Church: the inviolability of every new human life from its conception. The bishop is Domenico Sorrentino (in the photo), age 74, head of the dioceses of Assisi, Nocera Umbra, Gualdo Tadino, and Foligno, former secretary of the Vatican’s congregation for divine worship. He has done so with a two-page article in the historic Catholic magazine of the birthplace of Saint Francis, “Roc...