Letter #100, 2023, Wednesday, June 6: Pope Francis undergoes surgery in Rome Pope Francis underwent surgery today in Rome and the Vatican has reported that the three-hour surgery was without complications. He will remain in the hospital for several days. Let us keep Pope Francis in our prayers for a swift and complete recovery. [...]
"In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and [...]
"The way of this creator is not the way of power but of humility, not of conquest but of sacrifice, and his sacrifice gives us a path back home. If we follow that path, we can come back into communion again, and be as we were intended to be, which is to say holy — [...]
Also today, a homily by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, 82, for today, Saturday within the Octave of the Feast of the Ascension; the homily has been posted in Italy also in French, Spanish and Italian (link). The homily is his reflection on today's epistle, a passage from Revelation which contains a vision of "the Woman" [...]
Today, a link to an article by "Simplicius." The piece goes into some detail concerning the (possibly) poor performance of the American Patriot anti-missile defense system against numerous Russian missiles of various types, including several very fast Russian "Kinzhal" hypersonic missiles, launched against Ukraine on the evening of Tuesday, May 16. The piece explores the [...]
The white line in the map above of Vatican City (the large grey space is St. Peter's Square, with the great Egyptian obelisk in the middle) is our reconstruction of the "wild ride" seemingly taken by a 40-year-old man in his car yesterday evening, at about 8:30 p.m. Rome time, before being arrested. The man [...]
Andrei Rublev's room in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Russia. Up until now, it has housed the famous Trinity icon, dating from 1425, almost 700 years ago. (Photo Credit: By Shakko (Софья Багдасарова) -- Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, link) Letter #94, 2023 Wednesday, May 17: The Trinity A famous Russian icon is changing hands [...]
Pope Francis and President Zelensky (Vatican Media) Pope Francis, meeting on Saturday, May 13, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Vatican. The press had differing views on the meeting. Some reported that it went well. But others, particularly in Italy, reported that, when the Pope sought support from Zelensky for a possible [...]
Pope Francis, meeting with 32 Jesuits in Budapest Hungary on April 29, during his three-day trip to Hungary. The Jesuits were able to ask him several questions. Here below are the questions and the Pope's answers... "The abuser is an enemy. Each of us feels this because we empathize with the suffering of the abused. [...]
Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, 82, the former papal nuncio to the United States (2011-2016), recently granted an interview to Russian television which was broadcast throughout Russia and also in Ukraine. Below is the text of the interview "As a Bishop and Successor of the Apostles, I address the Russian and Ukrainian peoples in the name [...]
