Pope Francis on centuries of monastic life: a ‘movement of snobs’ and ‘spiritual hairdressers’ with ‘all the sicknesses of isolation’

Posted on July 8, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Benedict XVI, Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life, John Paul II, John XXIII, Paul VI, Pius XI, Pius XII, Religious Life, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Augustine, Vatican Council II.

Ever since the beginning of Christianity, certain men and women have been called to offer themselves entirely to God: they leave the world to dedicate themselves exclusively to prayer, fasting and penance in intimacy with the Lord. Many obtained such a fame of sanctity that they ended up attracting multitudes – their example awakened in many others the desire of imitating their lives of perfection. Small communities thus originated; and these became the starting point for the great religious orders of the future.Continue Reading

Poverty: new definition of the Mystical Body of Christ?

Posted on July 6, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Benedict XVI, Catechism of the Catholic Church, CELAM, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Gregory the Great, John Paul II, John XXII, Leo XIII, Pastoral, Paul VI, Pius IX, Pius XII, Sacred Scripture, Saint Augustine, Saint Clement of Alexandria, Saint John Chrysostom, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Vatican Council II.

Love for the poor is no novelty within the Church of Christ, although some try to present it as a recent innovation, something that sprung up in the past few years…Continue Reading

The Church always considered Christ’s sacrifice united to that of His Mother; but for Francis, She said interiorly: ‘I was deceived’!!!

Posted on July 4, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Dogma, John Paul II, Leo XIII, Mariology, Paul VI, Pius IX, Pius X, Pius XII, Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri, Saint Ambrose, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Vatican Council II.

Praying before the Cross, Christians are significantly comforted under the patronage of Our Lady of Sorrows. In her we contemplate the one who, as Scripture tells us, remained ‘standing’ at the foot of the Cross while the Apostles fled and betrayed Christ, as they were far from understanding the profundity of the mystery of Golgotha. This vital presence of Mary fully united to the Passion of her Son – consoling and adoring Him in an act of reparation for the offenses of those who had been unfaithful at this decisive moment – has moved truly Christian souls throughout the centuries.Continue Reading

Pope Francis’ Jewish prayer

Posted on July 3, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Bible, Council of Trent, Dogma, Holy Bible, John Paul II, John XXIII, Leo XIII, Pius XII, Sacred Scripture, Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri, Saint Ambrose, Saint Augustine, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Melita of Sardis, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Vincent of Lerins, Synod of Bishops.

One of the significant truths that we learn at primary catechism is that God himself is the Author of Sacred Scripture; and that with the coming of Christ, Holy Mother Catholic Church became the sacred depository of this incomparable treasure. Continue Reading

A picture is worth a thousand words….and a gesture, sometimes, more than an official document…

Posted on June 25, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Catechism of the Catholic Church, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ecumenism, Leo XIII, Pius XI, Pius XII, Protestantism, Sacred Scripture, Saint Augustine, Saint Cyprian of Carthage, Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Saint Thomas Aquinas.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s why the expressive though silent message transmitted through certain gestures often deserves our attention just as much as certain declarations or documents do. This is all the more true in the case of the one who has the mission of representing Jesus Christ ex officio, as his Vicar on earth.Continue Reading

For the family in crisis, Francis: “I do not have the recipe”

Posted on June 22, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Benedict XVI, Catechism of the Catholic Church, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Family, John Paul II, Leo XIII, Moral, Paul VI, Pius XII.

The crisis affecting the institution of the family in today’s society is amply recognized by all. Faced with this situation, Catholics who want to remain faithful to the teachings of the Church, naturally seek in the Church the correct path and true solutions they need.Continue Reading

Since God is good, does He really chastise eternally?

Posted on June 20, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Catechism of the Catholic Church, Catechism of Trent, Compendium of the Catechism, Eschatology, Hell, International Theological Commission, John Paul II, Pelagius I, Pius XI, Pius XII, Sacred Scripture, Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri, Saint Catherine of Siena, Saint Francis de Sales, Saint Irenaeus of Lyon, Saint Robert Bellarmine, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Synod of Constantinople, Vatican Council II.

There are some uncomfortable truths that we would like to forget…to make things easier. Though there is certainly no benefit derived from this mentality, some people persist in it, thinking that by the fact of insistently denying the truth, it will just cease to exist.Continue Reading

Care for the unemployed and the elderly – the absolute priority of the Church?

Posted on June 17, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Benedict XVI, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Gregory XVI, John Paul II, Leo XIII, Pastoral, Pius X, Pius XI, Pius XII, Vatican Council II.

St. Pius X warned about pastors only committed ‘to doing good, above all to resolving the problems of the people,’ but who were concerned ‘greatly about nourishment and care of the body, while silencing the salvation of the soul and the gravest obligations of the Christian faith.’ This admonition, made in a time when society was incomparably more Christian than it is today, makes us recall the words of the Divine Master: ‘Man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord’ (Deut 8:3).Continue Reading

Everything must be cut and dry… No! We have to open up new areas

Posted on June 4, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dogma, Pius IX, Pius XII.

On a certain occasion, Saint Thomas Aquinas revealed one of the secrets that permit us to better understand the integrity and brilliance of his intellectual work. He basically explained that he never advanced in the development of a thought or in the search for an answer without being absolutely sure that the steps he had previously taken were founded upon unquestionable truths.Continue Reading

Does the Old Covenant still exist? Is Judaism still a valid way of salvation?

Posted on May 14, 2015 by EN - Denzinger Bergoglio in Uncategorized and tagged Council of Florence (Ecumenical XVII), Ecumenism, Judaism, Pius XII, Thomas Aquinas.

In the Declaration Nostra Aetate no. 4, Vatican Council II manifests the doctrine consistently recognized by the Church ever since the time of Saint Paul, that the Jewish People would finally convert to the Lord: “Nevertheless, God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues. Continue Reading

Pius XII