“Buona Sera!”—“Good Evening!” With this commonplace greeting, devoid of any solemnity or unction, Francis addressed the thousands of faithful waiting in St. Peter’s Square for their newly-elected pope. These words set the style of his pontificate: informality, abandonment of protocol and disdain for ceremony. Ten years later, recently deceased Cardinal George Pell stated that this … Read more
As the coronavirus spreads across the nation, officials are taking measures to ensure the health of the body. Sadly, the health of souls is brutally neglected. A recent message on Twitter brings home just how shocking the situation has become. One woman wrote: Free Book: Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic … Read more
“Purgatory (to say nothing of Hell), penance, expiation, God’s holy justice: these just do not fit in with today’s cheerfully cheap religiosity.” – Hungry Souls. No one can say how many modern Catholics believe in Purgatory, but the percentage is unlikely to be high. A recent study showed that less than a third of Catholics … Read more
“One of Satan’s greatest works is to make people believe that he does not exist.” No one knows who first made this observation. The exact wording changes from source to source. However, it is all too true. Free Book: Return to Order: From a Frenzied Economy to an Organic Christian Society—Where We’ve Been, How We … Read more
Anyone who wonders why the Catholic Church is in its present crisis need only read Dr. Scott Bruce’s “Do We Still Need to Believe in Hell?” The Wall Street Journal article (9/15-16/2018) recently appeared in its popular weekend review section. It was a rather typical yet brutal appraisal of the notion of Hell. The author believes Hell is … Read more
The recent (January 30) statements by the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles, Robert Barron, that he will not fight for the abolition of the same-sex “marriage” ruling has scandalized even his admirers. He contends that revoking that decision “would probably cause much more problems and dissension and difficulty if we keep pressing it.” He doubles … Read more
