Semper Fi Catholic

The poverty-stricken children who were his peers when he was a youngster in the 1940s were in his thoughts and he was determined to use his prominence as a bishop to better the lot of the impoverished, as opposed to rubbing shoulders with the Argentinean elite. He eschewed ostentation, showiness an...

.. at the (sacred) heart of the matter..

Yup for someone who is so energized through human interaction, the administrative and procedural requirements of the job must be a real chore.

For me, the Papacies of JP2 and B16 are almost inseparable as a collaborative enterprise. Certainly JP2's immense and singular presence on the world stage at a time of great turbulence and crisis (which continues to this day) is undeniable.. but the theological knitting and unity of purpose was undo...

the poetic parsing provides an appropriate intensity to St. Faustina's visions.

Oh, so Francis didn't propose recognizing homosexual Civil Unions after all.

because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works.

So there you go, Luther.

Another great contribution to understanding the Faith from B16 (as Cardinal). There exists, then, a strict relationship between Revelation and prayer. The Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum teaches that by means of his revelation the invisible God, "from the fullness of his love, addresses men as his ...

Right.. there is real excitement, refreshment and intrigue in faith if properly approached.. it is atheism that becomes morbidly dull and meaningless. Pulling out of the sphere of the former.. puts you under the influence of the latter.

True this country has many problems and crime is one of them. For me, I see a direct correlation between the rise of faithless society devoid almost of any real belief in God and the rise of crime. Well said, Thomas, all of it. It think the West is in for a dark period as it charts its own route.. ...

He's a wonderful man. I've got some of his books (not all of which i've cracked yet).. all 3 volumes of Jesus of Nazareth; Behold the Pierced One; Salt of the Earth; Mary: The Church at the Source (with Hans Urs von Balthasar).. such a penetrating intellect.. he's fascinating and inspiring.

It took me a while to get through the 300 paragraphs of Evangelii Gaudium, which is longer than many Encyclicals but it is also less dense. It is an impressive document, obviously meant to clarify his positions. Much of this is gleaned from the homilies, journals and meditations of a lifetime of pat...

Most Popes have their private journals, correspondence and notes destroyed to prevent them from being used to undercut their definitive doctrinal or eccliastical pronouncements.. most of which are the product of a long deliberative and consultative process. I really don't see the necessity, if we se...