The Moynihan Letters

    Letter #51, 2022, Thursday, March 17: Conclave     The pontificate of Pope Francis began nine years ago. He was elected on March 13 and installed on March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph, in 2013. That means that in two days he will have completed nine years as Pope. But already in Rome and elsewhere people [...]

    Letter #50, 2022, Thursday, March 17: All the Bishops     This report is circulating on the internet. However, I have not yet seen it confirmed officially. Still, people are sending it to me and so I thought I would send it on to you. (The link to the original post is after the title below.)—RM [...]

The tomb of St. Patrick, Down Cathedral, Downpatrick     Letter #50, 2022, Thursday, March 17: St. Patrick     Here is a beautiful prayer that may be prayed on St. Patrick's Day. I think it gives a sense of the great dignity of the Christian faith and of St. Patrick and the Irish people.     St. [...]

An ancient Russian icon of the Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. Pope Francis has announced (link) that he will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in a ceremony of consecration on March 25 in Rome.     Here below, letters from readers on this consecration — the "vox populi" ("voice [...]

    The Honorable Victoria Nuland, 60, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (link), while giving testimony to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday, March 8, three days ago (here is a report on her testimony). Nuland confirmed the existence of a number of U.S.-supported bio-labs in Ukraine for the past decade or [...]

    "All can be lost with war. Let men return to understanding. Let them resume negotiating." —The words of Pope Pius XII to the nations of Europe just before the beginning of the Second World War, on August 24, 1939, cited by Archbishop Viganò at the opening of his Declaration on the Russia-Ukraine Crisis (text below), [...]

A woman crosses the street as anti-tank constructions are seen in Kyiv, Ukraine, March 7, 2022. (CNS photo/Gleb Garanich, Reuters)     Letter #44, 2022, Monday, March 7: Ukraine     Over the weekend, I was able to work in my little garden, cutting back some rose bushes in preparation for spring.     As I clipped the stiff, [...]

    “Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up. So then, while we have the opportunity (kairós), let us do good to all.” —St. Paul, Letter to the Galations, 6:9-10. Pope Francis cites this passage at the outset of his message for [...]