Editorial: Ireland's rebuke of Catholicism

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. Most Americans are familiar with the myth of Ireland’s patron saint driving snakes out of Ireland. (The fact that the last ice age ridded Ireland of the reptiles is beside the point.) Irish Catholic Americans also know the story of St. Patrick using the three-leaf shamrock to explain the concept of the Trinity to Christian converts.

https://www.richmond.com/opinion/our-opinion/editorial-ireland-s-rebuke-of-catholicism/article_0b337ebc-dcff-5d18-a217-738cc471c314.html 

What a Recovering Catholic and Out Gay Man Makes of the Priest Who Just Came Out

On Dec. 17, the Rev. Gregory Greiten shared a secret with parishioners at the St. Bernadette Catholic Parish: “I am gay.” Greiten was then greeted with a standing ovation, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 'I am gay': Wisconsin priest comes out to parishioners, gets standing ovation Father Gregory Greiten said he revealed his sexual orientation because he wants to be a role model. The next day, Greiten wrote a column in the National Catholic Reporter. As someone who now uses the descriptor “recovering Catholic” to answer questions about my religious identity, was once approached for the priesthood, struggled with reconciling my faith with my sexual orientation, and just finished writing about these experiences and more in a book called I Can’t Date Jesus, much of what Greiten wrote felt all too familiar.

https://www.theroot.com/what-a-recovering-catholic-and-practicing-gay-man-makes-1821535761

The Latin Mass, Thriving in Southeastern Nigeria

In August, under a bright blue sky and in front of 2,500 worshipers, Bishop Gregory Ochiagha performed the first traditional Latin ordination in Nigeria since the vernacular liturgy was introduced after Vatican II. Near the end of the Mass, the 86-year-old bishop nearly fainted. “I am so happy, I am so happy,” he whispered as he was led to a chair.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/30/opinion/sunday/catholics-nigeria-traditional-mass.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170930&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y

Francis’s words about women: What does he really think?

“When ordination is rightly understood, according to Pope Francis, women’s gifts for leadership can be shared within the church. Women can engage in decision-making for the church. He seems to be saying that ordination is simply less important than baptism in the grand scheme of things. And in any clerically-dominated church, that is saying a mouthful—for women and for men.”
 The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers some sage advice on how to take someone else’s words. In article 2478, it says: “To avoid rash judgment, everyone ought to be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbors’ thoughts, words, and deeds, in a favorable way.

https://voicefaithful.wordpress.com/2017/04/07/franciss-words-about-women-what-does-he-really-think-commonweal/ 

Steve Bannon Carries Battles to Another Influential Hub: The Vatican

When Stephen K. Bannon was still heading Breitbart News, he went to the Vatican to cover the canonization of John Paul II and make some friends. High on his list of people to meet was an archconservative American cardinal, Raymond Burke, who had openly clashed with Pope Francis.

In one of the cardinal’s antechambers, amid religious statues and book-lined walls, Cardinal Burke and Mr. Bannon — who is now President Trump’s anti-establishment eminence — bonded over their shared worldview. They saw Islam as threatening to overrun a prostrate West weakened by the erosion of traditional Christian values, and viewed themselves as unjustly ostracized by out-of-touch political elites.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/world/europe/vatican-steve-bannon-pope-francis.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170207&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y&_r=1 

The fake cleanup of the IOR: no one touches the “dirty thirty”

(Serena Sartini / Infovaticana) ROME – The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR): a name synonymous with intrigues, cardinals’ power games, and shady business deals. From the era of Cardinal Marcinkus, the “banker of God”, to this day, the so-called “Vatican Bank” has been awash in scandal, financial and otherwise. To name only a few: the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano, the ongoing Italian investigation into Benedict-era senior officials and the sentencing of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano for money laundering. With Pope Francis, have things changed? Have the long-awaited cleanup operation and transparency arrived? The auditing of accounts? Has the alignment with international accounting standards been completed?

http://www.pewsitter.com/view_news_id_262374.php 

Astounding 3D Face of Jesus Christ Revealed Through The Shroud of Turin

Full 2 part movie about The Shroud of Turin giving the man in the shroud his actual 3D face (and body) back. New dating methods reveals the much older date of the cloth than previously thought. It's accomplished through new computer methods and enhancements. Does this face belong to Jesus Christ? Yes, this video convinced me.

 

What Pope Francis’ Favorite Movie Can Tell Us About His Vision For The Church

Pope Francis has often talked about his admiration for the film “Babette’s Feast.”
In 2010, when the pope was still Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, he told journalists that the Oscar-winning 1987 Danish film was his favorite movie. He’s talked about it in biographies and even used it as a teaching illustration in his apostolic exhortation on the family, “Amoris Laetitia,” or “The Joy of Love.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pope-francis-babettes-feast_us_583dd721e4b04b66c01c115b?section=us_religion 

Jesus’s tomb exposed for the first time in centuries

A team of fifty experts working at the site as part of restoration project

The marble slab on which it is believed Jesus lay after his crucifixion is being studied as part of a $4m restoration project at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/10/31/jesuss-tomb-exposed-for-the-first-time-in-centuries/ 

INSIGHT-Pope Francis the manager - surprising, secretive, shrewd

* Keeps aides guessing with unexpected decisions
* Works around the bureaucracy when he deems it necessary
* No right-hand man, two secretaries keep out of sight
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Father Ernest Simoni, a 88-year-old Albanian, was watching Pope Francis on television this month when, to his astonishment, he heard the pontiff mention his name.

http://news.trust.org/item/20161026090018-b38hc/ 

With Pope Francis, it’s time to pay heed to the wisdom of the elderly

As the world experiences a massive boom in the elderly population, Pope Francis has been calling for greater attention to both the needs and the gifts of older persons -- and it's worth remembering that at the roots of the Christian story are Simeon and Anna, two wise senior citizens still looking ahead.

When Pope Francis opens his breviary to pray each day, a letter from his grandma Rosa greets him. It was written on the day of his ordination to the priesthood in 1969.

https://cruxnow.com/commentary/2016/09/24/pope-francis-time-pay-heed-wisdom-elderly/ 

Bishop tended Catholic flock quietly for 23 years

The Most Reverend J. Terry Steib, S.V.D., the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, blesses a room filled with church members during a dedication on Monday morning as the Immaculate Conception Cathedral School and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception celebrate the campus' new Early Childhood Center. The $4 million, two-story structure is the first new building on the IC campus in 41 years and will officially open on August 10, the first day of school. "We are all one local church, one diocese," said Steib. "My thanks to you for making this possible."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/columnists/david-waters/bishop-tended-catholic-flock-quietly-for-23-years-3ad7a396-57b9-4b4f-e053-0100007f53b9-391493721.html 

Actor playing Jesus in Ben-Hur ‘received blessing from the Pope’

The Catholic couple behind the film say they hope it delivers a 'message of reconciliation'

It’s been 57 years since the last film version of Ben-Hur hit movie theatres. That alone is, for most Hollywood types, reason enough for a remake.
But when the husband-and-wife team of Roma Downey and Mark Burnett saw the screenplay of the new version from John Ridley, he of Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave fame, “we loved the script,” said Downey, an executive producer of the new film, as is Ridley. “We loved the rephrasing of the story as one of forgiveness and reconciliation instead of the previous incarnations which were revenge-driven.”

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/08/18/actor-playing-jesus-in-ben-hur-received-blessing-from-the-pope/

Pope Francis to visit Assisi, again

Pope Francis walks off the Porziuncola tiny church inside St. Maria of Angels Basilica, in Assisi, Italy, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016. The pope traveled briefly to Assisi on Thursday to pray at tiny church within the basilica that is considered the cradle of the Franciscan order.

For the second month in a row, Pope Francis will visit Assisi, the Italian town famously associated with his namesake St. Francis. This time, the pontiff will take part in a gathering of leaders from different religious and cultural backgrounds organized by the Community of San't Egidio.

https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/08/18/pope-francis-visit-assisi/ 

Not naming names, bishops denounce Biden over role in same-sex wedding

Four days after Vice President Joe Biden posted on social media a photo of himself officiating at a same-sex wedding, three U.S. bishops criticized “a prominent Catholic politician” for sowing confusion about Catholic teaching on marriage “and the corresponding moral obligations.”
On Monday, Biden, a Catholic, posted to his Twitter account a photo of himself presiding at the wedding ceremony of Brian Mosteller and Joe Mashie, two longtime White House staff members and friends of the vice president.

https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/not-naming-names-bishops-denounce-biden-role-same-sex-wedding 

China willing to reach 'understanding' with Vatican: cardinal

Hong Kong (AFP) - The head of the Catholic Church in Hong Kong has said the Chinese government is willing to reach an "understanding" with the Vatican over the contentious issue of the appointment of bishops.

It comes amid unease among some Catholics who fear that a deal with Beijing may compromise the Church.

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/world/a/32249357/china-willing-to-reach-understanding-with-vatican-cardinal/#page1 

Vatileaks Verdict: Mama Won’t Do Time, Monsignor Will

ROME — In what must surely be a relief to Pope Francis, a Vatican tribunal ruled on Thursday that the press is free, that secretaries aren’t to blame, that new mothers shouldn’t go to jail, and that one of their own is the only one who truly deserves to pay the price for the Vatican crime of leaking documents to the press.

The so-called Vatileaks II trial began eight months ago over allegations that Spanish Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda and a Calabrian public relations consultant named Francesca Chaouqui, aided by Balda’s assistant Nicola Maio, knowingly leaked secret documents to journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipladi.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/07/07/vatileaks-verdict-mama-won-t-do-time-monsignor-will.html 

Pope echoes Martin Luther King in challenging Europe

Echoing Martin Luther King, Pope Francis has offered a vision of a revitalised Europe at a critical moment in its history.
On Friday, Francis gave a thunderous speech after accepting the prestigious German Charlemagne Prize, which is for “services of Western European understanding and work for the community”.

http://cathnews.co.nz/2016/05/10/pope-echoes-martin-luther-king-accepting-prize/ 

Pope Francis has been savaged by Twitter trolls for praising his love for Jesus Christ.

Pope Francis has been savaged by Twitter trolls and targeted with violent sexual imagery for the “crime” of expressing his love for Jesus Christ.
If you can call Pope Francis one thing, it would be a believer in the teachings of Jesus Christ, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock if the head of the head of the Catholic Church chooses to take to Twitter and express his love for the son of God.

http://www.inquisitr.com/3061020/pope-francis-savaged-by-twitter-trolls-for-praising-jesus/ 

Irish have longest marriages and second highest birth-rate in Europe

IRISH people enjoy - or endure - some of the longest marriages and working weeks in Europe.
Measuring Ireland's Progress uses a range of data on health, economics, society, the environment and education to paint a picture of how the country fares against EU counterparts, and what we need to know about ourselves.
Unsurprisingly, we keep out-breeding most of the continent with a birth-rate second only to the traditionally more romantic French.

http://www.irishnews.com/news/republicofirelandnews/2016/04/27/news/irish-have-longest-marriages-and-second-highest-birth-rate-in-europe-500721/