September 20, 2016, Tuesday — Appeal for Peace from Assisi “This is the spirit that animates us: to bring about encounters through dialogue, and to oppose every form of violence...
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“To recognize spiritual desolation, to pray when we experience this state of spiritual desolation and to know how to accompany people who are suffering difficult times of sadness and spiritual desolation”. In his homily at the Mass he celebrated at Santa Marta on Tuesday morning, 27 September, Pope Francis recommended that we ask the Lord […]
· The Pope tells catechists to find new ways of meeting and helping the poor · He calls for an end to the violence that has struck Mexico in recent days Pope Francis assured the “beloved Mexican people” of his prayers “that the violence, which in recent days has even affected several priests, may cease”. […]
To “forgive” and to“give”: these are the two “pillars” of Christian life and, in particular, of the witness of mercy to which every believer is called. This was the theme of Pope Francis’ catechesis, which took place during the General Audience on Wednesday, 21 September, in St Peter’s Square. The following is a translation of […]
September 20, 2016, Tuesday — Appeal for Peace from Assisi “This is the spirit that animates us: to bring about encounters through dialogue, and to oppose every form of violence and abuse of religion which seeks to justify war and terrorism.” —Declaration of Assisi, released today in Assisi, Italy, as a common call from representatives […]
September 19, 2016, Monday — Meeting by the Sea “Today, with the blessing and on the invitation of His Eminence Archbishop Bruno Forte, the local archpastor of the local Roman Catholic diocese, we, the Orthodox members of the Joint International Commission of Theological Dialogue between the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches, have the great […]
If you do want to be Christians merely by “name”, you have to carry out your daily commitment to “preserve, and not hide”, the light that was given to us at baptism. This is a commitment that takes place in “everyday” life, taking care not to give in to certain temptations in which one tends […]
September 18, 2016, Sunday — The Face of Christ and Unity “Seeking the Face of Jesus must be the longing of all of us Christians… If we persevere in our quest for the Face of the Lord, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, he, Jesus, will be our eternal joy, our reward and glory […]
“Such a step splits the Church” and “leads her toward schism” Robert Spaemann is a professor emeritus of philosophy at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Monaco of Bavaria. He is one of the leading Catholic philosophers and theologians in Germany. This following is my own translation of the interview on Amoris Laetitia, extensively excerpted, that […]
“Does the Pope say the divorced and civilly remarried may now be readmitted to Holy Communion? No.” The Bishop of Portsmouth, England, Philip Egan, has described the Pope’s exhortation Amoris Laetitia as a “magnificent” document, “breathtaking in scope,” and has urged everyone, “clergy and people,” to read and study it. Below we reprint excerpts from […]
The official response of Bishop Athanasius Schneider to Amoris Laetitia Following are excerpts from the text published on April 24, by His Excellency Athanasius Schneider, auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan, on the Italian website Corrispondenza Romana. It was the first public statement by a Catholic bishop calling for an […]
The Pope sees it “not as a place to solve every problem,” but to “discover first that there is a problem to be solved” The ink of the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”) is not even dry, and already various commentators, particularly in the secular press, have decreed that Pope Francis […]
With a double article about the history of books in this issue’s “Of Books, Art, and People,” what more appropriate time to suggest a visit to Rome’s Caffè Greco! Here for more than 200 years the great minds of art, literature, and music have been meeting around its tiny, marble-topped tables. The café was opened […]
Fr. Harrison: “May we believe Francis alone is right, and all his predecessors wrong?” A proper understanding, appreciation and evaluation of Amoris Laetitia will require considerable time, study and prayerful reflection. But it is already quite clear from certain key passages that, with carefully crafted language, plausible arguments and persuasive rhetoric, the Holy Father is […]
Pope Francis made an important point during his Morning Meditation on May 9 when he emphasized the unique impact of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who makes the difference, who sets souls on fire and breathes life into the actions of the Christian. Often the Holy Spirit is either forgotten or […]
A message of hope and rebirth released on the 75th anniversary of St. Maximilian Kolbe’s martyrdom at Auschwitz “Faith means deciding to stay with the Lord, to live with Him.” So Father Raffaele Di Muro concludes in his study of St. Maximilian Kolbe, Maximilian Kolbe: The Triumph of Love (Vatican Publishing House, 2016). The book […]
“My name is Julius: what do you like best about being Pope?” “What I like, sincerely, is being a parish pastor.” Julius’ question, and Pope Francis’ response, were taken from the pontiff’s dialogue with some members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Rome, Sunday, November 15, 2015; from it we can see, as if it […]
Two splendid exhibitions this spring concern the history of the book in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance and its impact on European and thus world culture: I Libri Che Hanno Fatto l’Europa (The Books That Made Europe) on at Palazzo Corsini in Trastevere, Rome, until July 22 (Via della Lungara 10, Rome, entrance […]
“Are You Ready To Move Mountains?” Interview with Eduardo Verastegui, Mexican Actor and Hollywood Producer From a little town in Northern Mexico, Eduardo Verastegui has made the American dream a reality: he became a Hollywood star, rich, famous and successful. Then one day he realized he didn’t want to be part of the negative stereotype […]
Saints Peter and Paul are considered pillars of the Orthodox Church, and thus share a special feast day which is celebrated on June 29. This feast is preceded by one of the main periods of fasting in the liturgical calendar, a time of fasting that is unique to the Orthodox calendar. It is called the […]