Beginning this November, for the first time in his Pontificate, His Holiness, Pope Francis, will have ad limina visits from the Bishops of the United States. Usually, bishops come as a group every five years to meet with the Holy Father. However, due to scheduling and other factors, ad limina visits (which means, from the Latin, “to the threshold”) had to be rescheduled. Other English-speaking nations, like the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and the Australian Bishops’ Conference, had their meetings with the Holy Father.
Editorials
The Amazonian Synod
This coming October, His Holiness, Pope Francis, will convoke the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region. It will be held at the Vatican from October 6-27. The purpose of the synod is to “to identify new paths for the evangelization of God’s people in that region.”
The Value of Catholic Education
As we close another academic year, it is filled in some places with great hope, and in other places with great sadness. Some high schools, such as Bishop Kearney in Bensonhurst and St. Joseph’s in Downtown Brooklyn, have decided to close their doors after many years of service because of declining enrollment. This is a […]
No Vacation From Our Faith
Many priests of the Diocese of Brooklyn can tell a similar story from when they were in the seminary – a seminary formator, usually a rector, a dean or a spiritual director, reminding the young man that “there is no vacation from a vocation.”
The Sane Thing to Do
Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed more states coming to the realization that life begins at conception, and thus signing fetal heartbeat bills, making it illegal to abort a child in the womb once a heartbeat is detected. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, was the latest governor to sign such a bill into law.
Pope Francis Strong in His Defense of Life
When describing Pope Saint John XXIII, 20th-century American theologian John Courtney Murray called him “the Pope of the Question Mark.” In many ways, the same phrase can be applied to His Holiness, Pope Francis. This pontiff can be difficult to understand and incredibly difficult to pin down.
Keep the Hierarchy
This past week, a prominent Roman Catholic priest, Father Jonathan Morris, a television commentator, author and pastor in the Archdiocese of New York, announced that he has decided to leave the active ministry as a priest because he wants to be free to “marry and have a family,” although assuring his social media followers that he doesn’t have an “existing relationship.”
Not a Matter of Faith
It seems that the days of “legal, safe and rare” are gone for those who advocate for a “pro-choice” position. And it seems that pro-choice advocates are becoming more irrational, ignoring common sense, logic and science, and are operating solely on emotion. All of that can be demonstrated by three instances, one in New York, one in Pennsylvania and one in Georgia.
Faith Under Attack
For the second weekend in a row, we have to report an attack upon organized religion. Last week, we deplored the horrific bombings of Sri Lankan Catholic churches on Easter Sunday. This week, we have witnessed the all-too-famiiar scene of a lone crazed gunman shooting up a synagogue in California on the final day of Passover observances.
Assault on Christianity
There is a stirring image that has been circulating around the internet this week after the horrific attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday by Islamic militants against Christians and Western interests. It is a picture of a statue of the Risen Christ, taken in a Catholic Church that was a site of an attack. The statue of the Resurrected Lord Jesus is covered in blood, the blood of Christians killed in a terrorist attack.