EDMONTON, Alberta — Pope Francis is a radical reformer who is facing enemies — inside and outside of the church — opposed to at least some parts of his agenda, said a prominent church historian. Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the Second Vatican Council and the author of several books, said the pope is not […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: Can a felon enter holy orders?
Q: I am currently incarcerated in federal prison. My question may seem strange, but I am wondering whether it would ever be possible for an ex-convict, a felon, to be accepted into holy orders. When I was a child, I was never baptized or brought up in any particular religion, but I had a strong […]
Pope Francis: Don’t let meatless Fridays be selfish, soulless, seafood splurge
Pope Francis elevates the Eucharist during Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome Feb. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) VATICAN CITY — Real fasting isn’t just restricting food choices, it must also include cleansing the heart of all selfishness and making room in one’s life for those in need and those […]
Pope Francis exhorts new cardinals to exercise charity with a sense of justice
New Cardinal Soane Mafi of Tonga greets pilgrims from his country after a consistory at which he was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 14. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) VATICAN CITY — In a Valentine’s Day ceremony to create 20 new cardinals, Pope Francis offered a meditation […]
Manaolana | The real best movies, family films of 2014
Agata Trzebuchowska stars in a scene from the movie “Ida,” which won the Oscar this year for best foreign film. (CNS photo/Music Box Films) NEW YORK — The year just past saw the release of a number of films whose celebrated cinematic quality was not matched by moral merit. Writer-director Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” for […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: Who believes in the real presence?
Q: Recent polls indicate that some 70 percent of Catholics in the United States (and 66 percent in Ireland) do not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but rather a symbolic presence. I happen to be one of them. I am Jesuit-educated, and I have written to my pastor with my […]
Father John Catoir: Letting love in during Lent
My love goes out to all of you this holy season of Lent. Now that I am an old man, I see more clearly that love is the only thing that really matters in life. Things you have acquired, like wealth or power or fame, are not really important. All that matters is how much […]
Romero’s beatification will be soon, archbishop says
VATICAN CITY — Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero will be beatified in San Salvador “certainly within the year and not later, but possibly within a few months,” said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the postulator or chief promoter of the archbishop’s sainthood cause. Speaking to reporters Feb. 4, the day after Pope Francis formally recognized that the slain […]
The late Thomas Merton, who last month marked the centennial of his birth, is still inspiring people to get closer to God
WASHINGTON — When Trappist Father Thomas Merton addressed persistent racism in his writing during the 1960s, his message seemingly reached into the future. Appealing to society to recognize that all people are children of God, Father Merton questioned practices that prevented African-Americans from achieving full equality and called for the end of discrimination in all […]
Father Kenneth Doyle: What’s the Biblical basis for purgatory?
Q: So far as I know, the other Christian religions do not provide for a purgatory — only the Catholic Church — and I’m wondering where purgatory is mentioned either in the Bible or in Christ’s teachings. (I would like to be able to defend my faith with some clear references.) (Chesapeake, Virginia) A: Speaking […]
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