Surprising contributions by Francis to the Magisterium...
Catherine of Aragon – the Spanish princess married to Henry VIII, King of England – after having been repudiated by him, could well have exclaimed: “our division is nothing less than a scandal,” and the Catholic world, upon discovering this monarch’s concubinage with Anne Boleyn could well exclaim: “Your union is nothing less than a scandal!”Continue Reading
Vatican, May 24, 2016
Given the current situation of turmoil in the Vatican, it is not unusual that all kinds of rumors are circulating about Benedict XVI.Continue Reading
A look at some of Francis’ affirmations pronounced during the last Jubilee Audience (April 30, 2016) might be useful to our readers.
“Often we think it is our sins that distance the Lord from us, when in reality it is by our sins that we draw away from Him. … A common way of saying this is that, when we sin, we ‘turn our back on God’.”
Every year, the Church unites herself with the mystery of Jesus in the desert through the celebration of Lent. Just as Christ wished to fast and overcome the temptations of the demon during forty days, in a similar manner, during lent, Catholics have a particularly favorable period of time geared toward the spiritual exercises and works of piety and charity.Continue Reading
From Rome, for the Denzinger-Bergoglio
Psalm 50 (49) offers us the impressive reprimand of God the Father adverting the chosen, though unfaithful, people: “What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. If you see a thief, you are a friend of his; and you keep company with adulterers. You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit” (Ps 50:18-19). These words of the Psalmist, inspired by the Holy Spirit, come to mind in considering some of the latest news arriving from Rome.Continue Reading
International news agencies have related a shocking, heartbreaking occurrence: Two young Christian Syrian refugees in Lesbos, Greece, the brother and sister Roula and Malek Abo, were originally on the list of the 12 refugees who Francis would have taken to Rome — in a gesture devoid of any intention for publicity of course (!) — but they were abruptly taken off the list, and instead, Muslims were put in their place. In fact, the twelve refugees that boarded the plane with Francis were all followers of Mohammed.Continue Reading
If you told me that Newton was a genius, I would accept that. But you must admit that Jorge Mario Bergoglio surpasses him by far. Newton discovered the law of gravity, the law that so greatly affects our lives from the moment we come into the world…Well, Francis has abolished it! Isn’t that clever?Continue Reading
When Pilate, with reverential fear, asked Christ about his sovereignty, he answered: ‘You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice’ (Jn 18:37) Was Our Lord perhaps being a fundamentalist in making this affirmation with so much conviction and resolve? Since he is God, made man, the Truth in substance, he could not have acted differently.Continue Reading
“The Cross is the word through which God has responded to evil in the world.” With these words, Francis closed his first Way of the Cross in the Coliseum as Bishop of Rome, during a brief speech that foreshadowed his future preaching centered on pardon and mercy. The Pontiff explained, in an original manner, the meaning of the immolation of the Lamb of God, who had offered his life on the Cross to transmit a word of love, stronger than that of justice.Continue Reading
Every priest who loves the Word of God meditates on the Gospel to be proclaimed, and which he will subsequently explain to the faithful. Besides the knowledge gleaned through his personal study, the Holy Spirit normally inspires him with a deeper understanding regarding the happenings in the life of the Redeemer, illuminating him in relation to the message of salvation, read ‘between the lines’.Continue Reading
