How deeply split are Germany’s bishops?
In a recent address to members of Cologne’s archdiocesan council, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki offered a bleak portrait of the Catholic Church in Germany. The country’s “synodal way,” he said, had proven to be far from synodal, at least as Pope Francis understands the term. Instead of listening respectfully to opposing opinions, participants literally held up red cards to speakers they disapproved of, making true dialogue impossible, he said.
Archbishop Coyne’s suggestion to move the papacy out of Rome was made “half in jest,” but it raises a good question: Why did God establish Roman primacy in the first place?
A U.S. archbishop caused a stir recently when he suggested that the Catholic Church should relocate its governance away from Rome in order to be more efficient.However partially tongue-in-cheek Hartford co-adjutor Archbishop Christopher Coyne’s proposal was, what would that look like in reality? Theologians who spoke with the Register said that, while technically possible, decamping from Rome would be a bad move for the papacy — pope out of Rome — for both practical and theological reasons.
Many of us don’t really believe Christ will come again. But He absolutely will...
We aren’t waiting for Christmas — not really. That already happened. What we wait for now is for Jesus to come again. Literally. From the sky. With angels. But do we really believe that after all these years? If you’re like me, you might think — maybe not. If you’re like me, you might suspect yourself of using Christianity as an emotional crutch to prop up your spirits rather than as a rod of truth pushing you to radical change, and accept that God loves you, a lot, in Christ while struggling with elements of it that sound fantastical.
How a Scottish Rugby Coach Made the Philadelphia Eagles Unstoppable...
FBI Investigation of Catholics, and Advent Reflections From a Former Muslim...
A new report released this week details the extent of the FBI’s weaponization of law enforcement against traditional Catholics. Catholic News Agency staff writer Joe Bukuras brings us the latest about how far the FBI went in looking for possible domestic terrorists within traditional churches. Also, we hear the conversion story of Register blogger Zubair Simonson who wrote, ‘Advent Thoughts About Gaza and Israel, From a Muslim Who Became Catholic.’
8 Things You Need to Know About the Immaculate Conception...
December 8th marks the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It celebrates an important point of Catholic teaching, and it is a holy day of obligation. Here are 8 things you need to know about the teaching and the way we celebrate it. First, who does the Immaculate Conception refer to? There's a popular idea that it refers to Jesus' conception by the Virgin Mary. It doesn't. Instead, it refers to the special way in which the Virgin Mary herself was conceived...
The art of speaking truth: Lessons from the prophet Nathan...
Church lockdown closures caused widespread mental and physical harm, says survey...
The closure of Catholic churches during the 2020 lockdown contributed to widespread mental and physical suffering, according to the results of a new study. The survey carried out by the Catholic Union found 62 per cent of people reporting that their mental and physical wellbeing were adversely effected directly as a result of not being able to go to church.
Straighten the Path: A Reflection on the Second Sunday of Advent...
Our God is coming. The time of exile—the long separation of humankind from God due to sin—is about to end. This is the good news proclaimed in today’s liturgy. Isaiah in today’s First Reading promises Israel’s future release and return from captivity and exile. But as today’s Gospel shows, Israel’s historic deliverance was meant to herald an even greater saving act by God—the coming of Jesus to set Israel and all nations free from bondage to sin, to gather them up and carry them back to God.
The good Magi and evil King Herod give us much to think about...
It’s not hard to see why Disney’s terrible new “Wish” movie has bombed so badly at the box office...
That Arian punch, clerical cool, and the sound of our stratosphere...
The Three Comings of Christ...
Pope Francis on First Sunday of Advent: ‘I’m Improving, but My Voice Still Doesn’t Work’...
Miracle? Something remarkable happened three weeks ago when Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew picked up a vial of St. Januarius’ blood...
As the Church marked the beginning of Advent with the lighting of the Hope candle, a series of extraordinary events unfolded, capturing the attention of the Italian media, including the Orthodox Archdiocese of Italy. A particularly unforeseen event took place in Naples, Italy, during the visit of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I...
Maybe Pope Francis is thinking of changing papal election rules, maybe he isn’t. But don’t say it hasn’t happened before...
H.L. Mencken once famously quipped that love is like war, in that it’s easy to begin but very hard to stop. Had Mencken plied his journalistic trade in the Internet age, he might well have added rumors to that list, which are notoriously easy these days to put into circulation and virtually impossible to extinguish once they’re in the digital ether.
Grand conspiracies, false messiahs, and rock ’n’ roll...
Today’s is a feast in which I positively revel. It confounds our Protestant brethren that we should have such devotion to Our Lady, though I am always perplexed at their skepticism of Marian theology. To suggest that God would not shield the mother of His son from original sin, and wouldn’t construct the whole of time and reality to accommodate an outpouring of the graces won by the Resurrection on to Mary before she or Christ were ever born seems, to me, to say you’d expect God to leave a job half done.
The Fearfulness and Faithfulness of Mary and Joseph...
After our first parents ate the forbidden fruit, when they heard the sound of God walking about in the Garden of Eden, they hid themselves among the trees. The Lord God called to Adam and asked him, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden; but I was afraid, because I was naked, so I hid myself.” Did Blessed Mary the New Eve or St. Joseph her husband ever feel afraid? Indeed, Scripture records several such occasions...
Atheism, the Evidence for God, and the Evidence for Ghosts...
He seems very smart, but not always someone who thinks very well. “Atheism does not require an argument,” the man declared in a Facebook post I saw. “My method is to believe only in things for which there is adequate evidence. There is no evidence for God.” There being no evidence, he doesn’t need to make a case for his atheism. Simple as that. He was responding to a quote from C.S. Lewis he’d picked up somewhere...
King Charles III, no stranger to Coptic Christianity, expresses “greatest admiration for the Coptic community” during visit to Hertfordshire church...
King Charles III expressed his “greatest admiration for the Coptic community” during a visit to the Coptic Orthodox Church Centre in Hertfordshire, England, on Tuesday. The Coptic Orthodox Church is a member of the Oriental Orthodox family, which broke with what are now the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches as early as the fifth century, when they rejected the definitions of the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
The Vatican trial, now ending, is a remembrance of things we thought were past...
4 Ways Life is Like a Pig Slaughter...
It might sound like a jaded exclamation. In fact I am in complete earnest. And I rejoice that more people are having this experience once again. As commonly enacted until just a couple of generations ago, a pig slaughter can bring into focus key aspects of human life itself. Here are four things that are true of both an old-time pig slaughter–done on a homestead–and life.
Boy Walks 7 Miles on Muddy Roads to Receive Confirmation, Gets a Blessing From the Pope...
Pope Francis Prays for Victims of Bombing of Catholic Mass in the Philippines...
8 Fascinating Facts About Equatorial Countries...
Who cares when you put up your Christmas lights?
Get this entire Catholic website as an instant digital download...
The full contents of the New Advent website are available as a digital download. It includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — and it's only $19.99...
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