Following the commandments is an obligation or an option?

Among the wide feedback that we have been receiving from around the globe, offering support and useful contributions, some time ago we received a suggestion for an analysis, from a brother priest, regarding one of the topics addressed by Francis in a General Audience, during the preparatory series for the Synod of Bishops on the family. This request already contains some excellent points for this study, and so we decided to make it available to our readers. Obviously, we have excluded the parts of the letter that might reveal the identity of the priest (and have copied from the original English translation passages that our brother priest cites in Spanish).Continue Reading

The Catholic Faith has nothing to do with Muslim beliefs!

At the end of the 16th century, an Archbishop of Valencia marked its history and that of the Church, for he was elevated to the altars by pope John XXIII in 1960. Saint John de Ribera was a true Shepherd. Not satisfied with merely caring for the faithful of his diocese, he also went in search of new sheep. One of his greatest concerns was to convert the followers of Mohammed to the Catholic Faith, and after having converted them, to instruct them well in the faith. Continue Reading

WE’VE REACHED 100!!! And have a present for you…

March 13, 2013…A few minutes after eight o’clock in the evening, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica announcing to the world the election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church. A few weeks before, Benedict XVI had surprised everyone with his sudden resignation from the office as Bishop of Rome, Successor of St. Peter. This happening was as unexpected as “a lightening bolt in a clear sky”, as Cardinal Angelo Sodano commented in his address to the renouncing Pope directly following the shocking news.Continue Reading

Can simple good-will replace theological investigation?

‘The truth cannot impose itself except by virtue of its own truth, as it makes its entrance into the mind at once quietly and with power’. These are words of wisdom from the Declaration Dignitatis Humanae of Vatican Council II. And what is theology if not the search and explicitation of divine truth? Really, theological reflection revives faith, for the truth offered by Revelation surpasses the capacities of human knowledge, but does not oppose reason.Continue Reading

If the family is the family, can one also say that it is a social and cultural reality?

This site, which aims to shed light on the terribly confusing ideas that go around these days, ever since its beginnings some time ago has quite predictably received, receives and it most probably will continue to receive, criticism from various quarters. Continue Reading

The anger of Jesus in the Gospels is only pretense? Elements for a new Christology

With the Incarnation of the Word and the Redemption of humanity, Our Lord Jesus Christ became the center of History, such that rendering him honor, serving him and propagating his name became the highest goal of all the baptized. These have never tired of increasing their knowledge of Christ in this life while awaiting the definitive encounter with Him in eternity.Continue Reading

A message for our days…

The Star that indicated the cradle of the just born Redeemer for twenty centuries shines even today marvelously in the skies of Christanity. The nations are in an uproar, the peoples mutter in vain and the kings of the earth stand up, the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD [Psalm 2:1-2]. Continue Reading

The theologian, a doctor of sacred science or a social agent? The difference between studying Revelation, and studying the street…

The mission of a theologian is of prime importance for the growth of the Church, because his conclusions flow from the treasure of Revelation and from delving attentively into the wisdom found in the depths of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The whole Church rejoices when a true theological reflection brings clearly into light an obscure aspect of doctrine or opens a new path to deepen our knowledge of the richness of our faith.Continue Reading

Education, sport and culture – without God?! – the pillars of youth formation for Francis

In the calendar of Catholic Saints there are numerous saints who excelled in the formation of youth. Saints who, in the most varied junctures in history were called to support and sanctify this age-group, so often neglected…but which God never abandons. Among them, perhaps no one is as renowned for the vastness of his work as Saint John Bosco. His life, full of miracles, and his particular charism for carrying out his mission make of the father of the Salesian family the authority par excellence in the area of youth education. His work, born in the midst of adverse circumstances, has today spread throughout the world.Continue Reading

What should religious offer to the world: a witness of virtue or of sin?

Imagine someone who becomes seriously ill, and after many attempts for a cure, finally finds a doctor who prescribes an efficacious remedy. After some days of treatment, he finds himself cured. Naturally, gratitude will bring him to transmit to as many as possible the competence of the doctor and efficacious medicine prescribed, emphasizing the gravity of the illness he was saved from. His testimony, besides praising the doctor, will serve for posterior experiences regarding this illness and encourage all of those who suffer from it to hope for a cure. Evidently, no one would think that this propaganda entails an apology of the sad condition of the sick person…Continue Reading