Pope Francis met with all the Italian bishops, 250 of them and gave them project of reducing their numbers, an interesting insight into the future of his Papacy.I am sure many will find good historical reasons why they and their dioceses should continue but the Church is not a museum. In the Church whatever shortages there might be there is never a shortage of bishops
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Is this an exorcism? Fr Lombardi says “no”, the Diocese of Rome’s exorcist says, “yes”.Whatever is happening is more than a blessing; the priest seems rather anxious to communicate something to the Pope, and the security guard seems almost rude in snatching away the file, the young man seems to be experiencing something, either gasping for breath or crying out.Though formal exorcisms are rather long and should be well prepared any priest can now use the exorcism from the Extraordinary Form Rite of Baptism, it is relatively brief Rite.Traditional Jesuits don’t know their way round the rubrics of High Mass but part of Ignatian spirituality is the “discernment of spirits”, in the past most Exorcists were Jesuits, and Pope Francis does seem to go on a lot about old Nick
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When the leadership of the Conservative party describes its activists as “swivel-eyed loons” there is obviously a vast gap between the leadership and the party on the ground. There are only two possibilities 1) the party activists will leave and join something else like UKIP or 2) simply carry-on half-heartedly but fight against the leadership and eventually depose it.
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I encourage people to come to daily Mass, I celebrate Mass daily, I think going to Holy Communion daily is a good thing but it was not always thus.St Pius X, that arch-innovator, not only changed the order of the sacraments placing First Confession and First Holy Communion before Confirmation but also made the daily celebration of Mass – and consequently the daily reception of Holy Communion – for priests a norm.
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This afternoon, the Holy See Press Office issued the following press release: “His Eminence Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien, archbishop emeritus of St.
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I had a discussion with a group of priests recently, we were talking about ageing clergy, clergy in ill health, tired clergy and ultimately parish closures. We spoke about the need for evangelisation and then realised that most parishes and diocese have no plan to evangelise, only to manage decline.
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Is that a mantelletta?… and look at the silver ware!SOURCE A three-year-old Colombian boy has garnered attention across the internet for a video in which he dons priestly garments and “celebrates” Mass, reciting the liturgy from memory.Samuel Jaramillo, who is an orphan, lives with his grandmother and an aunt in the city of Medellin
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Deacon Nick raises an interesting point: apparently the General Secretary of the Bishops Conference attended a meeting of A Call to Action, hosted by Hinsley Hall the Leeds Diocesan Pastoral Center, being a moderate I wouldn’t attend A Call to Action and for the same reason at the other end of the spectrum I probably wouldn’t attend a Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, except some of my parishioners did and were quite impressed with the speakers, indeed a friend of mine spoke, and he is far from a ranter. Deacon Nick’s point is: if Mgr Stock can attend an ACTA meeting why could he not attend a PEP meeting
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The Patriarch of Moscow has just made an official visit to Beijing and was received by President, Xi Jinping.Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, recently paid an important visit to China, where he met the illegitimate Catholic bishop Joseph Ma Yinglin.So, what is gioing on?A Roman friend says the only westerner who might be able answer this question is the Nuncio to Great Britain, the former Nuncio to Russia.
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He came down to earth without leaving the Father’s presence, he ascended into Heaven without leaving us orphans.Their Lordships movement of this Great Feast of the Ascension from the 40th to the 43rd day after Easter, has helped to focus our attention on this day itself.Today is Thursday, the 5th day; Holy Thursday is the day of the Lord’s institution of the Holy Eucharist. For us Catholics the Eucharist is His abiding Presence: This is My Body, This is My Blood.
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The Pro-abortion Irish Taoiseach, Enda Kenny is to awarded an honarary doctorate by Boston College, Ben Travolta suggests we should write, here is his excellent letter.
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The Eucharist is at the heart of the Christian polis.Receiving the holy Eucharist signifies the recipient is in Communion with the Church and also that the Church is in Communion with recipient.The Bishops are custodians of the Eucharist, they “bind and loose”, they are the gate keepers.In the 1970/80s many writers were saying things like “the Eucharist is not a reward for good behaviour”, many Bishop spoke of the dangers of “politicising” the Eucharist, “politicising” in the sense of linking it directly to “party politics”. Perhaps Bishops and the Church in general became anxious about blanket decrees of excommunication, such as post-war Italian bishops excommunicating anyone, and on the face of it everyone, who voted Communist
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I heard a priest in Verona asking in a sermon, “If we are not being martyred, are we being the Church?”A weaker, poorer Church is a Church of Martyrs. No-one attacks the strong, and the wealthy can always buy off their persecutors
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Simon Peter has a special role amongst the Apostles, he is charged with strengthening the brethren, with feeding the lambs and sheep. In the first ever infallible statement he speaks on behalf of the other Apostles, when they express confusion, he, speaking for them, says, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”
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Speaking on the tragedy in Bangladesh Pope Francis said, “That [38 Euros] is what the people who died were being paid.
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Good for Bishop Philip Egan.The Equalities and Human Rights Commission have issued a document: Religion or belief and the workplace and Bishop Egan takes his scalpel an in less than a page cuts it ribbons Rt. Hon.
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Exchanging emails recently with a young man about a vocation to the priesthood, I asked why he felt someone should be drawn to the priesthood, his reply was, “to forgive sins”.
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A political journalist friend of mine said, “If you want to understand Pope Francis, you have to understand Peronism”.
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As Curial reform is very much in the air, let us start from basics.
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One of the problems Pope Francis must address is the Church’s relationship with the media, especially those closely associated with the Papal Court. I don’t just mean the rather poisonous words of one or two Curial Archbishops who seem to want emphasise, not just a break in the Papal wardrobe with this Pope and his predecessor but real doctrinal differences.
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