CNA—Two Catholic priests martyred under the Ottoman Empire were beatified in Lebanon over the weekend. I am not afraid of death! Father Leonard Melki and Father Thomas Saleh were Capuchin friars and missionaries in what is now Turkey who were arrested, tortured, and martyred by the forces of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and 1917…
The video below is—by far—the most powerful, yet simply delivered, talk on Sister Faustina and Image of Divine Mercy ever. It was delivered during the Jubilee Year of Mercy, by Sr. Gaudia Skass of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy — the same congregation to which Sister Faustina belonged. Sr. Guadia…
Crisis—As the world watches Ukraine right now, keep your eyes on Poland. Poland has had a special place in the history of the last 100 years, from turning back Russian communists at the Miracle on the Vistula in 1920 onward through World War II and the Cold War. I call Poland “the fulcrum.” Critical events…
CNA, with a few CBJ additions—When Daniel Campbell saw an email in his inbox last spring from Soroti, Uganda, his first thought was: Am I being scammed? Campbell, who directs Denver’s St. John Vianney Seminary Lay Division, had recently announced plans to teach a six-week online course that summer on St. Joseph. The email in…
Vatican News, CNA, CBJ—Pope Francis spoke to a group of French entrepreneurs meeting at the Vatican on January 7. He focused on how to apply the Gospel values in their work and businesses, saying “the Church needs your witness,” and offering teachings to help “carry out your role as leaders according to the heart of…
Los Angeles—Starting in mid-October, the pilgrimage of the images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, known as La Peregrina, and Saint Juan Diego visited half a dozen parishes, including St. Catherine of Alexandria in Catalina Island, after the kick-off Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, where hundreds of faithful have had the…
French pediatrician and geneticist Jérôme Lejeune, renown for discovering the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome, was a devout Catholic. As a Catholic, Lejeune thought his historic discovery would lead to a more compassionate approach to children with the syndrome. Instead—to his horror—Lejeune’s famous discovery became a tool used to diagnose Down Syndrome babies in…
On Sept. 19, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Januarius, bishop, martyr, and patron saint of Naples, Italy. Traditionally, on this day and on two other occasions a year, his blood, which is kept in a glass ampoule in the shape of a rounded cruet, liquifies. According to documentation cited by the Italian…
CNA—The blood of St. Januarius, patron of the Italian city of Naples, liquefied on Sunday. The miraculous event took place in the city’s Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary during morning Mass on Sept. 19, 2021, the saint’s feast day. Before the Mass, Naples Archbishop Domenico Battaglia went to the Royal Chapel of the Treasure…
Crisis—“If there were only three like you in France, I would not be able to set foot there,” said Satan to a future saint serving as a parish priest. St. John Vianney (1786-1859), also known as the Curé of Ars, is the patron saint of parish priests, and his deep sanctity sheds light on what…
CNA—Few young Catholic Blessed are more popular in the United States than Pier Giorgio Frassati. Numerous ministries, schools, youth camps and awards bear the name of the handsome and wealthy Italian Catholic activist who was equally known for his social justice concerns, his amiable character, his boisterous laughter and his accomplishments as an avid mountaineer.…
The only challenge in reading a compelling new biography of Fr. Aloysius Schwartz, a Washington, D.C. native—entitled Priest and Beggar: The Heroic Life of Venerable Fr. Aloysius Schwartz— is that it seems to transcend reality at times and bring the reader into the realm of mythical superheroes. However, in reading we learn that Aloysius was…
Between 1769 – 1823, the Franciscan friars built a total of 21 missions stretching for 700 miles between San Diego and Sonoma, Calif., most of them thanks to the extraordinary charity and leadership of Saint Junipero Serra. Father Junipero Serra brought Christ to the Indians of California and also protection. He did not want the…
July 1, 2021
(originally posted Oct 13, 2015)—Well, as my T-shirt proclaims, “Pope Francis in America…. I WAS THERE.” I was specifically there for the canonization of Fr. Serra, an old family friend so to speak. Serra and I go way back–I knew him even before he was venerable. One of the happy sources of this connection was…
CNA—Catholics may know St. Anthony of Padua as a Franciscan friar, a Doctor of the Church, and the patron saint of lost items – but only one person has ever seen St. Anthony in an approved apparition. In 1664, Szymon the weaver – hailing from the little Polish village Radecznica – encountered St. Anthony in…
CNA—An Italian nun who was stabbed to death by three teenage girls was beatified on Sunday, after Pope Francis declared her a martyr, killed “in hatred of the faith.” Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti was beatified on June 6, the anniversary of her murder, in Chiavenna, the northern Italian town where she was killed in the…
WSJ—The San Gabriel, Calif., Fire Department and Archdiocese of Los Angeles recently confirmed what many had long suspected: The fire that almost destroyed Mission San Gabriel Arcángel last year was arson. John David Corey Jr., 57, was charged with the crime last week and faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted. Founded in…
CNA—On the 29th anniversary of the first Eucharistic miracle that took place in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires’ Santa María parish, the community received a first class relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis. Three Eucharistic miracles have taken place in this parish, in May 1992, July 1994, and August 1996. The history and investigation of these…
CNA—Pope Francis declared a blind 14th-century Italian lay Dominican a saint Saturday using a process known as “equipollent” canonization. The Holy See press office said April 24 that the pope had authorized the extension of the liturgical cult of Blessed Margaret of Castello to the universal Church during a Saturday morning meeting with Cardinal Marcello…
CNA—Pope Francis declared a blind 14th-century Italian lay Dominican a saint Saturday using a process known as “equipollent” canonization. The Holy See press office said April 24 that the pope had authorized the extension of the liturgical cult of Blessed Margaret of Castello to the universal Church during a Saturday morning meeting with Cardinal Marcello…
