Father Raymond J. de Souza is the founding editor of Convivium magazine. 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 …
Category: Current Issues
A Radical Proposal for the USCCB’s Eucharistic Revival
Fr. John A. Perricone, Ph.D., is an adjunct professor of philosophy at Iona College in New Rochelle, New York. His articles have appeared in St. John’s Law Review, The Latin Mass, New Oxford Review, and The Journal of Catholic Legal Studies. Ominous. It is the only word that can adequately describe the 2020 Pew Research Study. It polled Catholics on their belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Almost 70 percent surveyed said no. Chilling, but not surprising. Even a casual glance at parishioners receiving Holy Communion in most Catholic parishes reveals a nonchalance that is telling. One need not …
Cardinal Sarah: ‘Religious liberty is under threat in the West, too’
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency’s senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri. Cardinal Robert Sarah | Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA. Christians in the West should not take religious liberty and freedom of worship for granted, Cardinal Robert Sarah said in a recent interview with EWTN News. “Threats against religious liberty take many forms. Countless martyrs continue to die for the faith around the world,” the 77-year-old Sarah said. “But religious liberty is under threat in the West, too.” “It is not often an overt threat or …
Indian Catholics block cathedral Mass over liturgy dispute
Cathedral administrator Fr. Antony Puthuvelil was seeking to introduce the new ‘uniform mode’ of the Syro-Malabar Church’s Eucharistic liturgy. Priests opposed to the change are reportedly preparing to engage in continuous adoration at the cathedral until plans to introduce the new liturgical form are withdrawn. Bridget commented: “Seems like that would be a great opportunity to discern the will of God if any of them are willing to ask “what do You want me to do Lord” instead of asking “please do what we want and we won’t leave until you do it”. A newly appointed Indian Catholic cathedral administrator …
Big Medicine’s Fight Against Nature
Jerome German is a retired manufacturing engineer, husband, father of eleven, and grandfather of a multitude. His parochial activities have included music ministry, faith formation, and spiritual direction/talks for men’s retreats. He contributes articles to Crisis Magazine and Catholic Stand. St. Louis chiropractor Dr. Eric Nepute is being sued by the DOJ at the request of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to the tune of half a trillion dollars for promoting vitamins. Yes, you read that right—half a trillion. The complaint states: Starting no later than June 2020, [Nepute] began advertising a protocol that customers should follow to protect against, prevent, or treat COVID-19. This protocol, which has …
Woman arrested by English police for silent prayer near abortion facility
By Charlotte Evans CNA Newsroom, Dec 21, 2022 / 07:20 am A pro-life volunteer has been arrested and charged after silently praying outside an abortion facility in Birmingham, U.K. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the director of March for Life UK, was arrested on Dec. 6 and charged on Dec. 15 with four counts of breaking a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO). A PSPO is intended to stop antisocial behavior. Police were responding to a complaint from a member of the public who believed that Vaughan-Spruce was praying silently. As part of her bail conditions, restrictions have been placed on her participation in public prayer. Another requirement of …
St. Peter Canisius
An important figure in the Catholic counter-reformation that responded to the 16th-century spread of Protestantism, the priest and Doctor of the Church Saint Peter Canisius is remembered liturgically on Dec. 21. His efforts as a preacher, author, and religious educator strengthened the Catholic faith in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and parts of Central Europe during a period of doctrinal confusion. Writing about St. Peter Canisius in 1897, Pope Leo XIII noted similarities between the late 19th century and the saint’s own lifetime, “a period when the spirit of revolution and looseness of doctrine resulted in a great loss of faith and …
The Sad Case of Frank Pavone
Eric Sammons is the editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine. Frank Pavone*, the founder of Priests for Life and a long-time pro-life leader, was laicized last month by the Vatican. Pavone has a long history of tussles with the Church hierarchy, but this extreme action stunned most Catholic observers. So what led to his dismissal from the clerical state? After all, forced laicization is reserved for only a small number of outrageous situations (think Theodore McCarrick). Telling a priest that he can no longer publicly present himself as a priest (which includes publicly celebrating the Sacraments) should always be—and usually is—the absolute last resort. It’s important …
Former Governor of Hong Kong Criticizes Vatican-China Agreement
Edward Pentin began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN’s National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015) Lord Christopher Patten spoke …
Cardinal Burke and Bishop Schneider Restate Concerns About Restrictions on Traditional Liturgy
Edward Pentin began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN’s National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). The cardinal and the …