American Archbishop Charles John Brown (born 13 October 1959) has been an apostolic nuncio since 2012, currently Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. Before entering the diplomatic service of the Holy See he worked at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

    Letter #193, 2021, Tuesday, December 28: Courage

    This is a brief note to bring your attention to the courageous actions of an American Archbishop in the Philippines where he just confronted a typhoon during Christmas.

    Archbishop Charles Brown, 62, is a graduate of Notre Dame University and an outstanding Papal Nuncio having served in Ireland, Albania and now in the Philippines. A powerful typhoon just struck the Philippines and Brown spent Christmas with the Philippine people during the storm. We send out best Christmas wishes to Archbishop Brown and all the people in the Philippines. Here below is a story about these events.

    Note: We have now posted the first in a 10 part series of a reading of the classic Christmas story “The Other Wise Man”. Available here on YouTube or by clicking the video below.

    The story was written by Henry Van Dyke in 1895 (link). We offer this to you as a kind of Christmas present during the 12 days of Christmas. We hope that it might be a type of pilot of the creation of a kind of “book club” in which we would prepare readings of great stories to try to help families especially during this time of lockdown to have access to great stories. If you have a comment or suggestion, please feel free to respond to this email or send an email to [email protected].

    Papal nuncio to Philippines spends Christmas in typhoon-ravaged Siargao (link)

    In his Christmas message, Archbishop Brown expressed solidarity with those affected by the typhoon

    Archbishop Charles Brown, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, spent Christmas in Siargao with survivors of typhoon Odette (Rai).

    Archbishop Brown arrived in Del Carmen town on Saturday morning and was welcomed by Bishop Antonieto Cabajog of Surigao.

    From the airport, the nuncio proceeded to celebrate Mass in Siargao’s Mount Carmel Parish Church, which sustained damage from the typhoon.

    After the liturgical service, the papal nuncio visited the nine towns of the island where Odette made its first landfall on December 16.

    He spent the night in Dapa town where he again celebrated Mass in the parish’s Sto. Niño Church on Sunday morning before leaving the island for Surigao City via ferry.

    In his Christmas message, Archbishop Brown expressed solidarity with those affected by the typhoon as the fatality count reached at least 367 as of December 26 while at least 62 people were still missing.

    Reflecting on the story of Christmas, the nuncio asked the faithful “not to miss the opportunity to welcome and to show hospitality to those who need it most.”

    “Let us do everything in our power to offer them hospitality in various ways by assisting them,” he said.

    In Surigao, the archbishop led a Mass at the San Nicolas de Tolentino Cathedral. On Monday, he is expected to visit the parishes on Dinagat Island.

    Archbishop Brown is scheduled to return to Manila from Siargao on December 28.

Note to all readers: We are continuing our Christmas fund-raising drive. We hope to raise $30,000 between now and December 31 to support these letters, interviews, videos, and analyses during the upcoming year. We have raised $1,855 thus far. Please go to this link to make your donation.

    A Video Interview Wrapping Up 2021

    Here is a link to an hour-long interview I did last week with Jim Hale of Lifesitenews, in which Jim asks me to discuss some of the events of 2021 in a kind of year-end wrap-up. Some of you may find the interview of interest. Lifesitenews writes:

    “Unite the clans”: Viganò biographer says “evils” of Great Reset must be met with penance, prayer

    Author of Finding ViganòRobert Moynihan, sits down with LSN TV’s Jim Hale to discuss the latest efforts taking place to combat the Great Reset. Moynihan also shares his vision for the future of the fight and his next book on Archbishop Viganò, explaining that resistance to the “cage” being constructed for mankind must be met with prayer and penance.

    [End special note]

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    Note to all readers: We are continuing our Christmas fund-raising drive. We hope to raise $30,000 between now and December 31 to support these letters, interviews, videos, and analyses during the upcoming year. Please go to this link to make your donation.

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