An important figure in the Catholic counter-reformation that responded to the 16th-century spread of Protestantism, the priest and Doctor of the Church Saint Peter Canisius is remembered liturgically on Dec. 21. His efforts as a preacher, author, and religious educator strengthened the Catholic faith in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and parts of Central Europe during a period of doctrinal confusion. Writing about St. Peter Canisius in 1897, Pope Leo XIII noted similarities between the late 19th century and the saint’s own lifetime, “a period when the spirit of revolution and looseness of doctrine resulted in a great loss of faith and …
Category: Catholic Corner
The Sad Case of Frank Pavone
Eric Sammons is the editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine. Frank Pavone*, the founder of Priests for Life and a long-time pro-life leader, was laicized last month by the Vatican. Pavone has a long history of tussles with the Church hierarchy, but this extreme action stunned most Catholic observers. So what led to his dismissal from the clerical state? After all, forced laicization is reserved for only a small number of outrageous situations (think Theodore McCarrick). Telling a priest that he can no longer publicly present himself as a priest (which includes publicly celebrating the Sacraments) should always be—and usually is—the absolute last resort. It’s important …
Former Governor of Hong Kong Criticizes Vatican-China Agreement
Edward Pentin began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN’s National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015) Lord Christopher Patten spoke …
Cardinal Burke and Bishop Schneider Restate Concerns About Restrictions on Traditional Liturgy
Edward Pentin began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN’s National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). The cardinal and the …
Why (and How) to Restore First Friday Adoration at Your Parish
John M. Grondelski (Ph.D., Fordham) is the former associate dean of the School of Theology, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey. He is especially interested in moral theology and the thought of John Paul II. [Note: All views expressed in his National Catholic Register contributions are exclusively the author’s.] Recovering First Friday devotions can be a critical way to restore an awareness of the Eucharist as the “source and summit” of the Christian life. On Sept. 14, I recommended Catholic schools start an effort on Oct. 7 to take school children to Mass on First Fridays through June so that, at …
Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Victory, or Both?
Kevin Di Camillo is a fourth-generation member of his family’s Di Camillo Bakery, in Niagara Falls, New York. His latest book is Now Chiefly Poetical, and he co-edited John Paul II in the Holy Land: In His Own Words. His work has been anthologized in Wild Dreams: The Best of Italian-Americana, and he was awarded the Foley Poetry Prize from America Magazine. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, he regularly attends Yale University’s School of Management Publishing Course. While the Rosary is the Catholic devotional par excellence, it’s worth remembering why so many Catholics were praying it during the Battle of …
Soccer Manager-Turned Priest Shares Message of Peace Ahead of World Cup Playoffs
‘Soccer is a universal language that transcends any barrier and eliminates the differences between communities,’ said Father David Jasso. Before he became a priest, Father David Jasso was the manager of a major Mexican soccer club that won two championships, and ahead of this year’s World Cup in Qatar, he had an important message to give. Father Jasso managed the Monterrey Soccer Club in Mexico, known as the “Rayados,” leading the team to local championships in 2009 and 2010. A few weeks before the start of the FIFA (International Federation of Football Association) Soccer World Cup to be held in …
Opinion: The two commandments of tyranny
Noelle Mering is a Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center and a scholar at The Institute of Human Ecology. She is the author of Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology (TAN Books, 2021). She is an editor for the website TheologyofHome.com and the coauthor of the Theology of Home book series. When the official narrative you are not allowed to question is later admitted to be not only false but unjust and deleterious then we should start approaching the current official narratives with more skepticism. While away recently for a speaking engagement, I sat down to dinner …
On the Disappointed Catholic
James V. Schall, S.J. (1928-2019) taught political philosophy at Georgetown University for many years until retiring in 2012. He was the author of over thirty books and countless essays on philosophy, theology, education, morality, and other topics. His of his last books included On Islam: A Chronological Record, 2002-2018 (Ignatius Press, 2018) and The Politics of Heaven and Hell: Christian Themes from Classical, Medieval, and Modern Political Philosophy (Ignatius, 2020). Tell me what disappoints you and I will tell you what you are. To be disappointed about something means it did not live up to expectations, to some standard. A football or basketball team may not live …
Reacting to the pontifical academy, theologian says teaching of Humanae vitae can’t change
By Carl Bunderson for CNA Denver, Colo., Aug 8, 2022 / 19:01 pm (CNA). The teaching of Humanae vitae on contraception is an instance of the ordinary and universal magisterium, and as such is irreformable, a moral theologian has said in response to a statement from the Pontifical Academy for Life. Father Thomas Petri, O.P., president of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., noted that even critics of the teaching on contraception have “acknowledged that this was always the Church’s teaching” and that nowhere in the Church’s teaching has there been permissiveness, of any form, of contraception. “This suggests that this …