Ubi Petrus ibi Ecclesia

I have just read the homily given by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI during Mass yesterday for the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. You can read the entire homily in English on the Vatican website by following this link: http://bit.ly/KSEd7Y. There was one part of the pope’s homily that was particularly note worthy to me and which I felt the urge to comment on.

Former Prelate Of Opus Dei Now Venerable

Bishop Álvaro del Portillo

Good news from the Vatican today that Pope Benedict XVI has authorised the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate various decrees. One of them was to declare a former prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Álvaro del Portillo, Venerable.

Why do we suffer if God is there?

Does Jesus know pain and suffering?

Joe writes:    I have been away from contributing to the blog for some time due to certain things that have been happening in my life. I have been going through hardships at home and at work and have had to seek the help of a therapist. I have high blood pressure at 38 years of age am currently on medication and on top of this I was prescribed depression medication for six months. So between these problems and others, I felt my world crashing around me and at some point starting to ask myself whether God was there and if so why was He letting me suffer all these hardships.

The Founder Of Opus Dei

St Josemaría Escrivá

Yesterday was the Feast day of St Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. Opus Dei is a Catholic institution whose mission is to spread the news that work and all of the circumstances of our everyday life, are occasions to enable us to grow closer to God, to serve others, and of course improve society.

St. Josemaría Escrivá - Founder of Opus Dei

St. Josemaría Escrivá

Today, 26 June 2012, is the Feast Day of St. Josemaría Escrivá, the founder of Opus Dei. St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer was born in Barbastro, Spain, on January 9, 1902, the second of six children of Jose and Dolores Escrivá. Growing up in a devout family and attending Catholic schools, he learned the basic truths of the faith and practices such as frequent confession and communion, the rosary, and almsgiving. 

The Crack That Let In Modernism

Pope Paul VI

I recently came across the oath against the errors of modernism - Sacrorum Antistitum[1] – that His Holiness, Pope St. Pius X, issued in 1910 and which he mandated “all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors, and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries” should swear. (I include the entire oath at the end of this document for those who wish to read it.)

LCWR Needs Sense Of 'Product Identity'

Cardinal William Joseph Levada

Sister Janet Mock, executive director of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious

I note that Sr. Rakoczy, one of the Bloggers of The Southern Cross, is again disgruntled. This time it is because of the use of a “corporate culture”[1] phrase. Sr. Rakoczy, as usual, provides no source in her Blog to confirm that the alleged phrase was indeed used. Just her say so! There are two points I want to make about this: (1) Sr. Rakoczy seems to be in a habit, excuse the pun, of nailing Church leaders; (2) I think that the use of the phrase is actually quite effective, despite what Sr. Rakoczy thinks.

Why Vatican Warned About Nun’s Book?

Sr. Margaret Farley

A couple of days ago I wrote about the fact that the Vatican had issued a warning to Catholics about a book, which was written by Sr. Margaret Farley. I explained that the Vatican had warned Catholics that the sisters book – “Just Love: A framework for Christian Sexual Ethics” – was likely to cause confusion amongst Catholics and could therefore prove harmful to Catholics.

Does Gay Marriage Make Sense?

I came across two articles in a secular publication regarding the topic of gay marriage. Why these stood out was because the trend in secular media, sadly also some Catholic media, is to take a view that supports and promotes gay marriage. Everyone seems petrified of speaking out for fear of being branded a bigot. Even our bishops are accused of belligerence by Catholic media, when they speak out against gay marriage.

Vatican Warns About Nun's Book

Cardinal William Levada
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has again been placed in the position of having to warn Catholics against a book written by a theologian, who also happens to be a nun. According to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Sr. Margaret Farley’s 2006 book, “Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics”, contains a number of erroneous propositions on various Church teachings.

Litany of Humility

Cardinal Merry del Val's tomb in the Vatican - St Peter's Basilica.

The Litany of Humility is a beautiful prayer. It was one of the prayers in my old missal. Sadly, I see that it is unfortunately no longer included in my new missal. Pity. The prayer was composed by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, who was the Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See under Pope Saint Pius X.

Computers And Lent

Last weekend I was forced to take note of just how reliant I have become on my computer and also to change my opinion about people who suffer hard-drive crashes. Why? Well because last weekend I experienced what I have fortunately never ever experienced before. My trusty MacBook’s hard-drive crashed.

LCWR Heads For Rome

LCWR National Board

You will recall that recently the Holy See mandated a reform of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) following a doctrinal investigation, which was conducted under the auspices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). (You can read what Jimmy Akin had to say about this at the time.)

Gendercide Not Illegal

Planned Parenthood Headquarters
Washington, D.C.

An attempt to implement a law, known as the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act, which was intended to bring an end to aborting a child because of the child’s gender, was defeated and will therefore not be implemented. Surprisingly this law failed to be accepted into law, not in China or India, which is the countries I would have bet on if I were a betting man, but in the United States of America.

About Today: St Justin – Martyr ( - 165)

He was born at the beginning of the second century in Nablus, in Samaria, of a pagan Greek family. He was an earnest seeker after truth, and studied many systems of philosophy before being led, through Platonism, to Christianity. While remaining a layman, he accepted the duty of making the truth known, and travelled from place to place proclaiming the gospel.