The Spiritual Powerhouse of Prayer Intercessors Part I
A few years ago, my spiritual director instructed me to have an intercessor praying whenever I give a talk or lead a retreat. He understood—as I do now—the power of intercessory prayer. We greatly underestimate the level of spiritual warfare, pushback, and distractions individuals experience when doing the things Our Lord asks them to do. […]
The Ratification of the New and Eternal Covenant
This weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. It also marks the end of a two-year Eucharistic revival within the Catholic Church in America. This Eucharistic revival was principally initiated to draw the Catholic faithful into a greater awareness of the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the […]
Pope Francis pays tribute to Benedict XIII (Vatican News (Italian))
Pope Francis paid tribute to his predecessor, the Servant of God Pope Benedict XIII, on the 300th anniversary of his election. In a message to participants in a Mass in Benedict XIII’s hometown of Gravina in Puglia, Pope Francis praised his predecessor’s devotion to prayer, disdain for worldliness, compassion to the poor, commitment to the […]
Ahead of Croatia visit, Vatican ‘foreign minister’ praises country’s democratic journey (Vatican News)
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, is traveling to Croatia to mark the nation’s Statehood Day. At a May 28 Mass at San Girolamo dei Croati in Rome, Archbishop Gallagher encouraged Croatians to give thanks to God for the gift of freedom and peace. The prelate […]
Pope holds closed-door meeting with young Roman priests (Vatican News)
Pope Francis held a closed-door meeting with priests of the Diocese of Rome who have been ordained for under ten years. The meeting was hosted by the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, a women’s religious institute founded in 1924 by Blessed James Alberione. The May 29 gathering took place two weeks after a similar […]
Lawmakers seek assurance abortion drugs do not taint water supply (CatholicVote)
Ten members of the US Congress have asked the Biden administration to investigate the possible effects of abortion pills on the country’s water supply. In a letter to Michael Regan, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, the lawmakers asked for assurance that abortifacient drugs “do not post a threat to the health and safety […]
Israelis divided on Gaza war, poll shows (Pew Forum)
Israeli citizens have mixed views about their country’s military effort in Gaza, a new Pew Research poll finds. Only 39% of Israelis fully approve of the military campaign, while 19% think it has been excessive and 34% think it should be more aggressive. About two-thirds of Israelis expect the campaign to be successful, but a […]
Papal message to German Catholics emphasizes Jesus’ mission, calls for political action (Vatican Press Office (German))
Pope Francis has written a message for the 103rd Katholikentag, a Catholic convention that is taking place in Erfurt from May 29 to June 2. The theme of the convention is “The man of peace has a future.” In reflecting on the theme, the Pope wrote that “the tragedy of man from the very beginning […]
14 Christians slain in DR Congo for refusing to convert to Islam (L’Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Fourteen Christians in North Kivu (map), a province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, were murdered by members of an Islamic extremist group, the Allied Democratic Forces, after refusing to convert to Islam. The 14 Christians, “many very young,” were “killed with pangas [machetes] and Kalashnikovs [rifles]” in the town of Eringeti, the Vatican […]
US bishops express ‘some frustration’ with Vatican in new Synod synthesis report (CWN)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has released its national synthesis report for the interim stage of the synod on synodality.