St. Alphonsus Liguori

St. Alphonsus Liguori is a doctor of the Church who is widely known for his contribution to moral theology and his great kindness. He was born in 1696 in Naples to a well-respected family. He was very intelligent , even as a young boy, and he became a doctor of civil law at age 17. He resigned from a brilliant career as a lawyer in 1723 when he lost a case because he overlooked a small, but important, piece of evidence. His resignation, however, proved profitable for the Church. He entered the seminary and was ordained three years later …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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Francis disappoints locals by avoiding papal summer palace

Will Pope Francis’ strong message meet resistance in US?

St. Ignatius of Loyola

On July 31, the Universal Church marks the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Spanish saint is known for founding the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, as well as for creating the “Spiritual Exercisesâ€� often used today for retreats and individual discernment.St. Ignatius was born into a noble family in 1491 in Guipuzcoa, Spain. He served as a page in the Spanish court of Ferdinand and Isabella.He then became a soldier in the Spanish army and wounded his leg during the siege of Pamplona in 1521. During his recuperation, he read “Lives of the Saints.â€� …read more

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Pope Francis: ‘Facts are more important than ideas’

Did you catch the Planned Parenthood website “hack”?

By Mary Rezac

After the release of the fourth video investigating the trafficking of fetal organs, Planned Parenthood pulled what seems to be a fake hacking stunt on their own website.

At around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Planned Parenthood claimed its website had been “attacked by extremists”. But some people were able to capture some screenshots that suggest otherwise.

Their site is so hacked right now that someone has been rearranging CSS fonts and alignment. http://pic.twitter.com/7vxO4siXJH

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) July 30, 2015

The coding of the website was also highly suspicious, as The Federalist reports:

A review of the source code of …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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Prisoners, volunteers, teens invited to celebrate Jubilee with pope

Papal parenting guide: Francis delivers his own how-to for families

Exhibit honors how St. John Paul changed Catholic-Jewish relations

St. Peter Chrysologus

On July 30, the Catholic Church celebrates Saint Peter Chrysologus, a fifth-century Italian bishop known for testifying courageously to Christ’s full humanity and divinity during a period of doctrinal confusion in the Church. The saint’s title, Chrysologus, signifies “golden speechâ€� in Greek. Named as a Doctor of the Church in 1729, he is distinguished as the “Doctor of Homiliesâ€� for the concise but theologically rich reflections he delivered during his time as the Bishop of Ravenna. His surviving works offer eloquent testimony to the Church’s traditional beliefs about Mary’s perpetual virginity, the penitential value of Lent, Christ’s Eucharistic presence, and the primacy …read more

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A case of secrecy and self-silencing

By Pam Cohen
Jeannine Gramick

Global Sisters Report: LCWR missed a golden opportunity to help move the church hierarchy toward transparency, which is increasingly being called for in civil and ecclesial arenas.

…read more

Source:: Catholic News 2

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St. Martha

“Jesus loved Martha, and her sister Mary, and Lazarus” (John 11:5).Saint Martha is mentioned in three Gospel passages: Luke 10:38-42, John 11:1-53, and John 12:1-9, and the type of friendship between her and her siblings, Mary and Lazarus, with the Lord Jesus is evident in these passages.In the gospel of Luke, Martha receives Jesus into her home and worries herself with serving Him, a worry that her sister Mary, who sat beside the Lord’s feet “listening to Him speak,” doesn’t share. Her complaint that her sister is not helping her serve draws a reply from the Lord who says to …read more

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St. Victor I, Pope

The date of birth of St. victor is unknown, but we do know that he was Pope from 189 to 199.Victor was a native African, and his father’s name was Felix. He is known for having obtained the release of many Christians who had been deported to the mines of Sardinia, and for being the first Pope to celebrate the liturgy and write Church documents in Latin rather than Greek.He is most famous, however, for decreeing that Easter be universally celebrated on a Sunday, a practice already common in the West, but not so in the East.He died in 199, …read more

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The New York Times is listening to Christians in the Middle East – are you?

By Mary Rezac

Photo by Sigfrid Lundberg via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

We as Christians often bemoan the reporting of “liberal media” which seems to so often get stories about Christianity wrong, if they report them at all. Especially concerning the plight of Christians in the Middle East at the hands of ISIS, there seems to have been a troubling dearth of coverage.

But let that no longer be said about the New York Times, after their extensive feature on Christians in the Middle East entitled “The Shadow of Death” published in their Sunday magazine on July 26 (an earlier version appeared online on …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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World Youth Day registration begins; pope is first person to sign up

On giving: “The bread of God is Jesus Himself”

By Inside the Vatican Staff

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning.

This Sunday’s Gospel (Jn. 6, 1-15) presents the great sign of the multiplication of the loaves, in the narration of John the evangelist.

Jesus finds himself on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and is surrounded by a “large crowd”. drawn by the “signs he was performing on the sick” (v. 2). In Him, the merciful power of God acts, that heals every ill of the body and spirit. But Jesus is not only a healer, He is also a teacher: in fact he goes up on the mountain and he sits, the typical behavior …read more

Source:: Vatican News 2

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Editorial: Pope Francis’ exhortation to walk on the margins makes us squirm

St. Panteleon

St. Panteleon, whose feast we celebrate on July 27, is the patron saint of bachelors and physicians. As lifelong layperson, he was the physician for emperor Maximian. At one point in his life he had abandoned his faith, but he eventually returned to the Church, and gave his fortune to the poor, providing them medical treatment without charge. Some of his cures were accomplished by prayer.Other physicians eventually denounced him to the anti-Christian authorities. At his trial, he offered a contest between himself and the pagan priests. He challenged the pagan priests to heal a paralyzed man with their prayers, …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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Blessed William Ward

Blessed Willam Ward was born William Webster in mid-16th century England. He was raised Protestant and converted to Catholicism in Spain, after having traveled there with a friend. He returned to England, where he successfully converted his mother. There, he was also frequently imprisoned for his faith.At 40, he went to Belgium to study for the priesthood. As a Secular Franciscan, he took the name Fr. Wiliam Ward and traveled to Scotland where he was imprisoned for three years. He worked in London for the next 30 years, secretly ministering to the Catholic population and to the poor. He was …read more

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Overhauls and the ordinary: 2013 goes down in Vatican history

St. James

James, the brother of John the Evangelist, was the first Apostle to be martyred. He was beheaded by order of Herod of Agrippa. The Gospels tell us that the two brothers left their father, Zebedee, and followed Jesus as soon as He called out to them.James was one of the three Apostles who were particularly close to the Lord. He was there with the Lord and his brother, John, and Peter at the Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane.He is known as James “the Greater” to distinguish him from the other Apostle by the same name. The title has …read more

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More than a popularity rating: What Pope Francis is really about

By Elise Harris

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square during the Wednesday general audience, May 21, 2014. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

According to a recent Gallup poll, Pope Francis’ approval ratings in the United States have significantly dropped over the past year.

Headlines have swirled since the poll was published Wednesday, speculating about why his numbers have plunged from 76 percent in February 2014 to 59 percent in July of this year.

The drop is seen across the board, lowering to just a 45 percent approval rating among conservative circles, as opposed to 72 percent a year ago. Liberal excitement over the Argentinian Pope has …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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Vatican bans La Repubblica journalist from traveling with pope

The pope’s ‘staycation': Correspondence, trip preparation fill his days

St. Charbel Makhlouf

On July 24, the Catholic Church celebrates the life of St. Charbel Makhlouf, a Maronite Catholic priest, monk, and hermit who is known for working miracles both during his life and after his death. On the occasion of his beatification in 1965, the Eastern Catholic hermit was described by Pope Paul VI as “ a new, eminent member of monastic sanctity,â€� who “through his example and his intercession is enriching the entire Christian people.â€�Born into humble circumstances in Lebanon during 1828, Yussef Antoun Makhlouf was the youngest of Antoun Zaarour Makhlouf and Brigitta Elias al-Shediyaq’s five children. Antoun, who had been …read more

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Dominican Fr. Thomas Doyle meets with members of pontifical commission on sex abuse

St. Bridget of Sweden

Today, July 23, the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Bridget of Sweden. Bridget received visions of Christ’s suffering many times throughout her life, and went on to found the order of the Most Holy Savior.Daughter of Birger Persson, the governor and provincial judge of Uppland, and of Ingeborg Bengtsdotter, Bridget was born in Sweden in 1303. From the time she was a child, she was greatly devoted to the passion of Jesus. When she was only ten, it is recorded that she had a vision of Jesus on the cross and heard him say, “Look at me, …read more

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Pope Francis’ US approval rates slump sharply, led by conservative dismay

This HONY post proves the Internet isn’t all bad

By Hillary Mast

Sometimes the World Wide Web feels like the Old West: it’s big and lawless and there’s lots of swearing (or maybe that’s just what I imagine the Old West was like).

Then sometimes, sometimes, you realize there’s a good reason the Internet exists. And it’s so that things like this can reach as many people as possible:

What impressed me about this post was not just the young man’s honesty, but the scores of people who shared their own stories about choosing life for their unborn children, even when they were afraid .

I generally avoid digging too deeply into …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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St. Mary Magdalene

On July 22, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Mary
Magdelene, one of the most prominent women mentioned in the New
Testament.
Her name comes from the town of Magdala in Galilee, where she
originated. Scripture introduces her as a woman “who had been healed of
evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven
demons had gone out� (Lk. 8:2).
Some scholars identify Mary Magdalene with the sinful woman who
anointed the feet of Christ with oil in the house of Simon the Pharisee
(Lk. 7:36-50). Others associate her with Mary, the sister of Martha and
Lazarus (Lk. …read more

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Remembering the young Catholics who were killed by James Holmes

By Kate Veik

Exterior of Century Aurora Theater after the remembrance ceremony on Jan. 17, 2013 in Aurora, CO. Credit: Robert Linn.

Three years after one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, a jury has found 27-year-old shooter James Holmes guilty on 165 counts, including two counts of first-degree murder for each of the twelve victims.

Holmes opened fire July 20, 2012 during the midnight premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” at the Century 16 Theater in Aurora, Colo. Twelve people were killed and 70 more were injured.

Many of the victims and their families were in the courtroom during Thursday’s conviction, with emotions …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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Vatican finances still lack transparency

The Night of the Churches

By Mary Rezac

Beauty will save the world.

So says the oft-quoted Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. His claim is that of the three transcendentals – truth, goodness, and beauty – the thing in the end that will save man’s soul is beauty.

And it’s easy to see why. In our current culture, truth has become relative and goodness irrelevant to most people. But no one can deny the beauty of a sunset, of a piece of great music, of the intricate architecture of a great Cathedral.

That’s the idea behind “The Night of the Churches”, which is much as it sounds. Every year in Europe since …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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St. Margaret of Antioch

Saint Margaret, whose feast is celebrated on July 20, is a virgin and martyr. She is also called “Marina”. Margaret belonged to Pisidian Antioch in Asia Minor, where her father was a pagan priest. Her mother died soon after Margaret’s birth, so she was nursed by a pious woman who lived about five or six leagues from Antioch. Having embraced Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God, she was disowned by her father and adopted by her nurse. One day, while she was engaged in watching the flocks of her mistress, a lustful Roman prefect named Olybrius caught sight …read more

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St. Arsenius

St. Arsenius, an Anchorite, was born in 354 at Rome and died in 450 at Troe, in Egypt. Theodosius the Great, having requested the Emperor Gratian and Pope Damasus to find him in the West a tutor for his son Arcadius, decided on Arsenius, a man well read in Greek literature, a member of a noble Roman family, and said to have been a deacon of the Roman Church. Upon receving the request to become the tutor of young Arcadius, he left and reached Constantinople in 383, and continued as tutor in the imperial family for eleven years, during the …read more

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St. Elizabeth of Schonau

St. Elizabeth was a Benedictine visionary, who had the gift of prophecy. She also suffered the assaults of demonic forces.Elizabeth was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1126. She was raised and educated in a Benedictine monastery near her birthplace from the age of 12. Elizabeth came to see the monastery as home, and she took vows in 1147.With the help of her brother Egbert, a monk and abbot, she wrote three volumes describing her visions.She served as the abbess at Schonau from 1157 until her death in 1164.St. Elizabeth was never formally canonized but was added to the list of …read more

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Servant of God Francis Garces and Companions

A contemporary of the American Revolution and of Blessed Junipero Serra, Francisco Garcés was born in 1738 in Spain, where he joined the Franciscans.After ordination in 1763, he was sent to Mexico. Five years later he was assigned to San Xavier del Bac near Tucson, one of several missions the Jesuits had founded in Arizona and New Mexico before being expelled in 1767 from all territories controlled by the Catholic king of Spain. In Arizona, Francisco worked among the Papago, Yuma, Pima and Apache Native Americans. His missionary travels took him to many places, including the Grand Canyon and California.Friar …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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The five biggest misconceptions about the Planned Parenthood Video – cleared up

By CNA in DC

In case you’ve missed it, a video released Tuesday shows a top Planned Parenthood official Dr. Deborah Nucatola discussing the trade of human organs from aborted babies. Go ahead: read and watch, we’ll still be here.

Back? Ok, good.

Unfortunately, with a 24-hour news cycle, spin doctors, and several responses from Planned Parenthood themselves, and a slew of commentators taking those statements at face value, what’s important – and what’s true- in the story here can get lost.

We at CNA have been pouring over this story for …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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Under new system, Vatican budgets show previously unreported assets

St. Camillus

On July 18 the U.S. Catholic Church celebrates the feast day of Saint Camillus de Lellis, who turned from his life as a soldier and gambler to become the founder of an order dedicated to caring for the sick. In some other countries, he is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, July 14. Camillus was born during 1550 in the Abruzzo region of Naples in present-day Italy. His mother died during his infancy, and he lost his father, a former army officer, six years later. The young man took after his late father professionally, serving in the armies of Venice …read more

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Bishop: Vatican is free to work with everyone, UN is not the ‘devil’

St. Bonaventure

Today, July 15, marks the feast day of St. Bonaventure, who is
called “The Seraphic Doctor� of the Church. St. Bonaventure is known for
his leadership of the Franciscans and his great intellectual
contributions to theology and philosophy.
St. Bonaventure was born in Bagnorea in Tuscany, Italy. He is widely
believed to have been born in the year 1221, although some accounts say
1217.
Sources recount that in his youth, St. Bonaventure was cured of a
dangerous illness by the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi. He went
on to join the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor in 1243.
After making his …read more

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Muppets and Cardinals and Opposites

By Mary Rezac

“They’re opposite!”

We are t-minus three(ish) months away from the long-anticipated Synod on the Family in Rome, and bishops and cardinals around the world are finishing up final preparations by holding conferences and writing messages about their hopes for the Synod.

On the one hand, we have the German Bishop’s Conference, which recently released a message following its findings from a questionnaire and “in-depth examination” of lay Catholics in the country after the preliminary Synod which took place last year. Let’s see what they had to say about their findings:

As a matter of principle, the faithful expect everyone to be accepted both …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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St. Kateri Tekakwitha

On July 14, the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the first Native American to be canonized. Known as the “Lily of the Mohawks,” Kateri lived a life of holiness and virtue, despite obstacles and opposition within her tribe. Kateri was born in Auriesville, New York, in 1656 to a Christian Algonquin woman and a pagan Mohawk chief. When she was a child, a smallpox epidemic attacked her tribe and both her parents died. She was left with permanent scars on her face and impaired eyesight. Her uncle, who had now become chief of the tribe, adopted …read more

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Pope apologies for ‘ignoring’ middle classes

By Nick Squires

Pope Francis, who has made defence of the poor a major plank of his papacy, admitted to ignoring problems of the ‘working, tax-paying’ middle class

…read more

Source:: Vatican News

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Vatican court delays abuse trial after ex-nuncio hospitalized

Angelus Address in Paraguay

By Inside the Vatican Staff

I thank the Archbishop of Asuncion, the Most Reverend Edmundo Ponziano Valenzuela Mellid, for his kind words.

At the end of this celebration we look with trust to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother. She is the gift that Jesus gives to his people. He gave her to us as our Mother at the hour of his cross and suffering. She is the fruit of Christ’s sacrifice for us. And from that moment, Mary has always been, and will always be, with her children, especially the poor and those most in need.

Mary has become part of the tapestry …read more

Source:: Vatican News 2

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St. Henry II

On July 13, the Catholic Church celebrates the memory of St. Henry II, a German king who led and defended Europe’s Holy Roman Empire at the beginning of the first millennium.St. Henry was born in 972 to Duke Henry of Bavaria and Princess Gisela of Burgundy. During his youth, Henry received both an education and spiritual guidance from a bishop who was himself canonized, St. Wolfgang of Regensberg. Henry was an intelligent and devout student, and for a period of time he was considered for the priesthood.St. Wolfgang’s lessons in piety and charity left a lasting mark on Henry’s soul. …read more

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St. Ignatius Delgado

St. Ignatius Delgado, whose feast we celebrate on July 12, was a Spanish missionary and is now one of the martyrs of Vietnam.He was born in Villafeliche, Spain, in 1761, and was raised in a pious family. He became a Dominican priest and served as a missionary in Vietnam for almost 50 years.He was named coadjutor vicar-apostolic at East Tonkin, Vietnam. However, government-sanctioned persecution of Christians began soon after. Ignatius was arrested and locked in a cage, then put on public display for ridicule and abuse, and left to die. He died of hunger and exposure in 1838.The martyr was …read more

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Vatican opens first ever child sex abuse trial as defendant hospitalised

By Telegraph Staff

Jozef Wesolowski faces charges he sexually abused minors during time as Vatican ambassador in the Dominican Republic

…read more

Source:: Vatican News

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St. Benedict

On July 11, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the sixth-century abbot who gave Christian monasticism its lasting foundation in Western Europe. For his historic role as the “Father of Western Monasticism,â€� St. Benedict was declared a co-patron of Europe (along with Saints Cyril and Methodius). St. Benedict is also the patron saint of Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate. In a 2005 general audience, the Pope said St. Benedict was a “powerful reminder of the indispensable Christian rootsâ€� of Europe. He cited the monk’s instruction to “prefer nothing to the love of Christ,â€� and asked his intercession “to …read more

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Martyrs of Damascus

Beaitifed by Pope Pius XI in 1926, these eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laymen were offered the choice of converting to Islam or suffering death in Damascus on July 9, 1860.Thousands of Maronite Christians had already been killed by the Druz in Southern Lebanon in that year and the Druz, an offshoot sect of Shiite Islam, had turned their attention to Damascus where they killed nearly two thousand more.When they had reached the Franciscan convent there, the superior, a spaniard named Fr. Emmanuel Ruiz, who had sheltered the Christians that lived around the convent inside the chapel, was threatened …read more

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Pope rebukes Bolivia’s President Evo Morales for gift of crucifix mounted on hammer and sickle

By Philip Sherwell

Pope Francis makes clear he is not amused as Evo Morales, Bolivia’s left-wing leader, presents gift that mixes the symbols of Christianity and communism

…read more

Source:: Vatican News

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120 Martyrs of China

On July 9 the Church celebrates the feast of the 120
Martyrs of China. Religious persecution has a long history in China,
especially persecution of Christians, thousands of whom have died for
their faith in the last millennium.
On October 1, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized 120 men, women, and
children who gave their lives for the faith in China between the years
1648 and 1930. The martyrs include 87 native Chinese and 33 foreign
missionaries. The majority were killed during the Boxer Rebellion of
1900.
“Chinese men and women of every age and state, priests, religious and
lay people, …read more

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The closest thing to the patron saint of Shark Week

By Mary Rezac

“White shark (Carcharodon carcharias) scavenging on whale carcass – journal.pone.0060797.g004-A.png. Credit: Daniel Mietchen (CC BY 2.5)

I don’t know about your place of employment, but Shark Week celebration is in full swing here at CNA (in between coverage of the Pope in South America).

Naturally, I have been in search of the Patron Saint of Sharks, because Catholics have patron saints for everything, right?

Turns out, we have no patron saint of sharks (yet – though I’m pretty sure some of my friends have already called dibs once they get to heaven)!

It looks like St. Brendan of Clonfert, patron saint …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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Sts. Aquila and Priscilla

Saints Aquila and Priscilla were a Jewish couple from Rome who had been exiled to Corinth, and were friends of St. Paul in the first century. They hosted St. Paul on his visit to that city and were probably converted by him. They are mentioned a few times in the New Testament in glowing terms by their friend Paul, who calls them “my helpers in Christ, who have for my life laid down their own necks” (Romans 16:3-4).They were tentmakers, thus sharing the same profession as Paul, and because of this it is thought that Paul may have worked with …read more

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Five challenges the Pope will face in Latin America

By Guest

Pope Francis is visiting Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay July 5-13. Here are five challenge the Pope will address on his trip, according to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

1. His longest trip

This is the Pope’s ninth international trip since his election, and his longest so far.

It is a 13-hour trip to get to Quito, Ecuador and almost another 13 hours for the flight from Asunción, Paraguay back to Rome. During his visit to the three Latin American countries, the Pope will change planes 13 times and will speak on 22 different occasions.

On top of all this is the change …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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Blessed Maria Romero Meneses

Blessed Maria Romero Meneses is a saint of the new millennium. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2002.Maria was born in Granada, Nicaragua, in 1902 to a wealthy family, her father being a government minister. At the age of 12, she became extremely sick and was paralyzed for six months with rheumatic fever. She was cured through the intercession and apparition of Our Lady Help of Christians, during which she discovered her vocation to be a Salesian sister.She entered the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (Salesian Sisters) and made her final profession in 1929. Two years …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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What’s the Pope doing now?

By Alan Holdren

“What is the Pope doing now?” That’s a question often thought, asked aloud, pondered as we go about our business of covering Vatican news.

Covering the papal trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay this week, we’ll ask that question dozens of times with varying inflections and emotions.

Today, day one of eight we’ll be spending in his close company, that question will be our primary concern.

This morning as I woke up and threw the last of my clothes and gear in bags to head to the airport, I asked it. It was 4:30 in the morning. It’s possible he was already up …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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The vocations shortage has become an acute crisis

St. Maria Goretti

July 6 marks the feast day of St. Maria Goretti, a young virgin and martyr whose life is an example of purity and mercy for all Christians.
Maria Goretti is best known for her commitment to purity and the courageous defense of her faith at the young age of eleven that made her willing to undergo death rather than participate in a sin against God. She is also remarkable for the forgiveness she willingly granted her attacker as she lay on her deathbed.
Maria was born in Corinaldo, Italy on October 16, 1890. Her father, a farmer, died of malaria when …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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Pope Francis to focus on poor in South America trip

By AFP

Pope Francis leaves Rome to embark on his first South American trip in two years, an eight-day tour of Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay

…read more

Source:: Vatican News

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Ecuadorians hope pope gives tough talk, encourages church ‘shake-up’

St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

On July 5, the Catholic Church remembers Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria. A renowned preacher and promoter of Eucharistic adoration, he founded the order of priests now known as the Barnabites. In 2001, the future Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, wrote the preface for a book on St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria, praising the saint as “one of the great figures of Catholic reform in the 1500s,â€� who was involved “in the renewal of Christian life in an era of profound crisis.â€�The Italian saint, Cardinal Ratzinger wrote, “deserves to be rediscoveredâ€� as “an authentic man of God and of the Church, a …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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St. Andrew of Crete

Celebrated by Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine tradition on July 4,
Saint Andrew of Crete was a seventh-and eighth-century monk, bishop, and
hymn-writer.

Among Eastern Christians he is best known as the author of the “Great
Canon,� a lengthy prayer service traditionally offered as a penitential
practice during Lent. He is also venerated as a saint in the Roman
Catholic Church, where he is better known for his writings on the
Blessed Virgin Mary.

He should not be confused with a different “Saint Andrew of Crete,�
celebrated on Oct. 17, who suffered martyrdom while defending the
veneration of icons during the eighth …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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Pope Francis says Catholic Church should not have ‘leaders for life’

By Reuters

Catholic Church risks becoming like a country under dictatorship, Pope warns

…read more

Source:: Vatican News

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St. Thomas, Apostle

On July 3, the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Thomas the Apostle. Best known for his initial unwillingness to believe the other
apostles in their claim that Jesus had risen from the dead, St. Thomas
can teach the faithful about believing without seeing.
As an apostle, Thomas was dedicated to following the Lord. Upon
hearing that Jesus was returning to Judea, an area that would pose
dangers due to the growing animosity of the authorities there, he
immediately said to the other apostles, “Let us also go, that we may die
with him” (Jn 11: 16).
Yet despite …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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4 ways gay marriage affects Christians

By Mary Rezac

Outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. during the courts ruling in favor of legalizing the redefinition of marriage in the United States on June 26, 2015. Credit: Addie Mena/CNA

An argument I often see in support of gay marriage is: If gay people want to get married, let them. It’s not affecting you, even if you think it’s wrong.

How I wish it were so simple.

We as Christians have already seen the practical effects of the legalization of gay marriage on the state level, and those are only increasing following the national decision.

Here are four things we can expect as …read more

Source:: Catholic News

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Pope Francis to head to Latin America for ‘homecoming’ trip

Catholic economist: Pope Francis has ‘measured’ critique of US economy

St. Otto, Bishop

On July 2, the Church celebrates the life and work of St. Otto. He was born in 1060 in Swabia, and died on June 30, 1139. He was the Bishop of Bamberg, an indefatigable evengelizer, and the apostle of the Pomeranians.He was born of noble rank and ordained a priest sometime before the age of 30. He joined the service of Emperor Henry IV in 1090 and became his chancellor in 1101. He served Henry IV and his successor, Henry V, loyally, but he disaproved of the latter’s disgraceful treatment of Pope Paschal.Otto was consecrated a bishop on May …read more

Source:: Saint of the Day

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