Bénédicte Cedergren is an Associate Producer for EWTN News Nightly. She is Swedish-French and grew up in Stockholm. After graduating from the University of Stockholm with a degree in Journalism, Bénédicte moved to Rome where she earned a degree in Philosophy at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. She also sings sacred music and works as a photographer. Passionate about spreading the truth and beauty of the Catholic faith, Bénédicte enjoys sharing the testimonies of others and writing stories that captivate and inspire. Upon hearing the Blessed Mother’s call during a retreat, Father Daniel Steiner Ebert has since enrolled …
Category: Apologetics
Conservative prelate warns that excommunicating Viganò will lead to further division
“I think the pope would be wise and prudent if he were to not excommunicate Archbishop Viganò,” Schneider told Religion News Service in an interview on Monday (June 24), adding that, “with this act, the Holy See will increase divisions even more.” The Vatican Department for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Vatican’s Inquisition, summoned Viganò to trial on June 28 under charges of schism, which can incur the penalty of excommunication. Viganò wrote in a public statement that he had no intention of attending the “fake trial” and doubled down on his criticism of the pope …
The Mystery of the Church’s Catholicity
Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, S.V.D. holds a Ph.D. in Theology and is Professor Emeritus of Moral Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, Ireland. A former doctoral student under Joseph Ratzinger, Twomey is the author of several books, including The End of Irish Catholicism?, Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (A Theological Portrait), and Moral Theology after Humanae Vitae. His most recent books are The Dynamics of Liturgy—Joseph Ratzinger’s Theology of Liturgy: An Interpretation (Ignatius Press, 2022) and Apostolikos Thronos, Rival Accounts of Roman Primacy in Eusebius and Athanasius (Emmaus Academic, 2023, revised edition). In 2011, Benedict XVI awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal …
To Judge or Not to Judge?
Donald DeMarco, Ph.D., is a Senior Fellow of Human Life International. He is a professor emeritus at St. Jerome’s University in Waterloo, Ontario, an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Connecticut, and a regular columnist for St. Austin Review. His latest works, How to Remain Sane in a World That is Going Mad; Poetry that Enters the Mind and Warms the Heart; and How to Flourish in a Fallen World are available through Amazon.com. Some of his recent writings may be found at Human Life International’s Truth and Charity Forum. He is the 2015 Catholic Civil Rights League recipient of the prestigious …
Ticket to Oblivion?
George Weigel is the distinguished senior fellow and William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington. COMMENTARY: ‘Liberalism in religion is the doctrine that there is no positive truth in religion, but that one creed is as good as another..’ In the days before Pope Paul VI simplified the rituals surrounding the creation of new cardinals, men who had previously been informed that they had been chosen gathered in Rome; there, a day or so before the consistory at which they would be “proclaimed” and given the red hat, they received what …
Pope’s Anti-TLM Theologian Shows His Pro-Contraception Cards
Pope Francis is fond of saying “Everything is connected.” Traditionalists have been saying the same thing for the past six decades. We have long emphasized that those who transformed the Catholic liturgy on paper and in practice were also entertaining doctrinal novelties, oddities, and, at times, even heresies. Conversely, a radically changed liturgy has led to the weakening and occasioned the loss of faith in, any number of central doctrines of Catholicism, or that the loss of reverence for God is bound up with moral drift in every sphere of life. It is not hard, after all, to see that the lex orandi, the lex credendi, and …
Will There Be African Resistance to the October 2024 Synod?
In an interview with KTO, a French Catholic news channel, on March 17, 2024, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, Archbishop of Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), discussed the Fiducia supplicans Declaration that authorized the blessing of same-sex couples. He regretted the method used by the Vatican to publish Fiducia supplicans: without prior consultation and with a particular timetable. “I do not believe that this text was necessary at that time,” he said, recalling that the first session of the Synod on Synodality had just ended in Rome and that a second session …
Rediscovering the memorable Saint Anthony of Padua
Dawn Beutner is the author of The Leaven of the Saints: Bringing Christ into a Fallen World (Ignatius Press, 2023), and Saints: Becoming an Image of Christ Every Day of the Year also from Ignatius Press. She blogs at dawnbeutner.com. It is somewhat disappointing that most Catholics only call upon the brilliant, articulate Saint Anthony to help them find their car keys. After all, he can do much more for us than help us find items we have lost. Catholic saints sometimes become popular for strange reasons. Saint Nicholas, bishop of the early Church, may have inspired the legend of Saint Nick, but he bore little …
Cause for hope in new data on Eucharistic faith?
Reverend Peter M.J. Stravinskas founded The Catholic Answer in 1987 and The Catholic Response in 2004, as well as the Priestly Society of Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman, a clerical association of the faithful, committed to Catholic education, liturgical renewal and the new evangelization. Father Stravinskas is also the President of the Catholic Education Foundation, an organization, which serves as a resource for heightening the Catholic identity of Catholic schools. A recent poll conducted by Vinea Research says that “69% of Catholics who attend Mass at least yearly believe that the Eucharistic elements become the invisible substance of Christ.” But there is a serious problem …
Everyone on Earth (Including You) Is Either in a State of Grace, or a State of Mortal Sin
COMMENTARY: The lines between a sinful act and a state of sin have been blurred. It’s time to clarify them Father Jeffrey Kirby is the pastor of Our Lady of Grace parish in Indian Land, South Carolina, and the host of the daily devotional podcast Morning Offering With Father Kirby. The Church is commissioned by Christ to give the faithful — especially those in states of sin — the gifts of doctrinal integrity, candid teaching, and time. (Photo: Igreca2n / Shutterstock) Father Jeffrey Kirby CommentariesJanuary 18, 2024 In recent moral teaching, it has become clear that the gravity of a person living …