Rescued by Mother Teresa, Minnesota man now shares his incredible stories of two nuns
Patrick Norton pictured with a magazine cover of Mother Teresa, who picked him up from the streets of Bombay as an infant. Later he was adopted by an American family. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Patrick Norton St. Paul, Minn., Dec 28, 2023 / 09:00 am (CNA). In 1962, when he was just an infant, […]
In the US, 2023 Was a Year Marked by a Startling Discovery and the Shocking Murder of a Beloved Bishop
Credit: YouTube/St. John Vianney Hacienda Heights A memorial Mass for the late Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell was held at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Hacienda Heights, California, on March 1, 2023. YEAR IN REVIEW
Martyrs’ Feasts Situated Perfectly at Christmastime
Francisco de Zurbarán, “Christ and the Virgin in the House at Nazareth,” ca. 1640 — A depiction of a young Jesus pricking his finger on a crown of thorns, foretelling his Passion. What is the Church trying to tell us by situating these particular feasts just after the joyful celebration of the Savior’s birth?
Cardinal says Vatican is not moving toward accepting gay marriage
The Vatican’s affirmation that a priest can give an informal blessing to a gay couple that asks for one is not a first step toward the Catholic Church recognizing same-sex marriages, said Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Saying goodbye to the most indispensable blog on the Vatican beat
ROME — Though it might be reading too much into things, it’s distinctly possible Santa Claus has drawn the conclusion that Vatican journalists were a naughty bunch this year, because just ahead of Christmas we all got a massive lump of coal in our virtual stockings. On Dec. 17, Luis Badilla, a Rome-based Chilean journalist, […]
Religious orders worldwide weigh harmful impacts of green transition (National Catholic Reporter)
Some so-called green practices “cause devastating effects on nature and humans alike,” the National Catholic Reporter stated in its report on a webinar hosted by the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission of the International Union of Superiors General (women) and the Union of Superiors General (men). During the webinar, entitled “Unpacking the Illusions […]
World Values Survey: Indonesia, Czechia are world’s most and least religious nations (Religion Unplugged)
Examining data in wave 7 (2017-22) of the World Values Survey, Professor Ryan Burge of Eastern Illinois University writes that Indonesia, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Jordan, and Nigeria are the most religious of 64 nations examined, while Czechia (the Czech Republic), Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia are the least religious. Indonesia, located in Southeast […]
Papal letter marks 60th anniversary of Albanian cardinal’s arrest (Gazeta Sot (Albania))
On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis sent a letter to Albanian Cardinal Ernest Simoni to express his closeness on the 60th anniversary of his arrest. “Thank you for the testimony, thank you for what you did and do for the Church,” Pope Francis wrote to the 95-year-old prelate, who was arrested, tortured, and imprisoned for 18 […]
German bishop in Vatican newspaper: Cardinal Fernández has developed the Church’s teaching on blessings (L’Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The Vatican newspaper has published a commentary on Fiducia Supplicans by Bishop Stefan Oster, SDB, of Passau (Germany). Vatican News, the news agency of the Dicastery for Communication, subsequently republished the commentary in German. “What changes is not the teaching on man, but rather that on blessing,” Bishop Oster wrote, as he insisted that the […]
UN laments dehumanization of Palestinians
A United Nations report highlights mass arbitrary arrests, detentions and reported torture by Israeli forces in the West Bank. Read all