Sports on Sundays OK, except when used to skip Mass, says Vatican

VATICAN CITY — A new Vatican document cautions against the dangers of highly competitive children's sports, political and economic pressures on athletes to win '"at all costs" and the unsportsmanlike or violent behavior of fans. The document on sports also calls on every group or institution sponsoring sports programs to have expert-guided child protection policies in place and it urged bishops, parishes and lay Catholics to be proactive in helping "humanize" sports.

http://www.catholicsentinel.org/Content/Default/Homepage-Rotator/Article/Sports-on-Sundays-OK-except-when-used-to-skip-Mass-says-Vatican-/-3/382/35722 

7 Ways John Paul II revolutionized the Rosary

Even Pope Francis became a devotee from JPII's example. If it wasn’t for St. John Paul II, I wouldn’t have spent the last 17 years saying a daily Rosary with my family. I’m not alone, either. As I explain in my new book, The Rosary of Saint John Paul II, there are many, many people who can say the same thing. How did John Paul do it?
1: St. John Paul made the Rosary new and exciting again. As I tell students in my class at Benedictine College in Kansas, John Paul II was a mastermind of strategy who knew how to get big things done in the Church. He didn’t just say, “Young people, come back to Church!” — he created World Youth Days. He didn’t just say, “Be faithful to Catholic doctrine” — he created the Catechism. He didn’t just invite Catholics to return to Jesus — he created the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. He also didn’t just urge people to pray the Rosary — he added five new mysteries to pique our interest and created a Year of the Rosary to insure the whole Church joined in.

https://aleteia.org/2018/04/30/7-ways-john-paul-ii-revolutionized-the-rosary/ 

Making a Pilgrimage for the Canonization of Fátima Siblings

On bended knee they came. Thousands of Roman Catholics from around the world arrived this week on a pilgrimage to Fátima, the Portuguese town where three poor shepherd children said, 100 years ago, that they saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. There, Pope Francis proclaimed two of the shepherd children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, saints on Saturday.

Many of the pilgrims crawled the final yards to a shrine complex in Fátima, where the children, along with an older cousin, Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, said they saw the apparitions six times between May 13, 1917, and Oct. 13, 1917, when Jacinta was 7, Francisco was 9 and Lucia was 10, according the Vatican. The vision told the children three “secrets,” according to accounts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/13/world/europe/pilgrims-in-portugal-prepare-for-popes-visit-and-canonization-of-fatima-siblings.html?emc=edit_tnt_20170513&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y&_r=1 

Some Catholic saints ‘were probably gay,’ controversial Vatican consultant says

(The Blaze) Father James Martin — a Jesuit priest appointed last month by Pope Francis as a consultant to the Vatican’s secretariat for communications — said some saints “were probably gay.”
Martin’s comment was part of a Facebook thread he began Friday about a bishop who led a prayer at an LGBT Catholic gathering, which Martin called “another sign of welcome and building bridges.”

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/05/catholic-saints-probably-gay-controversial-vatican-consultant-says/?newsletter=1 

After the Grand Master, Another Head Is About To Fall: That of Cardinal Burke

Decapitated by the pope of its Grand Master, the Englishman Matthew Festing, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta not only has ratified his forced resignation on Saturday, January 28, but it has turned back the hands of time to the fateful 6th of December, 2016, reinstating in the role of Grand Chancellor the very man who on that day had been removed from it and suspended from the Order, the German Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager.

http://magister.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2017/01/29/after-the-grand-master-another-head-is-about-to-fall-that-of-cardinal-burke/ 

Mutiny at the Vatican as Pope Francis faces dissent

IN A move that is unprecedented in the modern history of the Papacy, four cardinals have publicly challenged Pope Francis. In the words of his biographer, Paul Vallely, the four “have published ‘doubts’, virtually accusing him of heresy”.
The four are Cardinal Raymond Burke (USA), Cardinal Carlo Caffarra (former Archbishop of Bologna), Cardinal Joacim Meisner (former Archbishop of Cologne), and Cardinal Walter Brandmuller (Germany), former president of the Pontifical Commission for Historical Sciences.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/viewpoints/analysis/mutiny-at-the-vatican-as-pope-francis-faces-dissent-438885.html 

When a mother loses a child, reach out with tears, not words, pope says

In the depths of despair, when no words or gestures will help, then cry with those who suffer, because tears are the seeds of hope, Pope Francis said.

When people are hurting, “it is necessary to share in their desperation. In order to dry the tears from the face of those who suffer, we must join our weeping with theirs. This is the only way our words may truly be able to offer a bit of hope,” he said Jan. 4 during his weekly general audience.

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2017/01/mother-loses-child-reach-tears-not-words-pope-says/?newsletter=1 

Catholic Churches in China Should Be Independent of Vatican, Official Says

A top Chinese official suggested that Catholic churches in China should be run independently of the Roman Catholic Church, the state news media reported on Friday, striking a nationalistic tone as the country negotiates a possible deal to improve relations with the Vatican.

At a meeting with bishops on Thursday in Beijing, Yu Zhengsheng, a senior Communist Party leader, endorsed the notion of a self-governed Chinese Catholic church, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. He said spiritual leaders should work to promote the “good virtue of patriotism” and “adhere to the principles of independence and self-management,” Xinhua reported.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/world/asia/china-catholic-vatican.html?emc=edit_tnt_20161230&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y&_r=0 

The Pope’s Christmas Dream, The Curia’s Nightmare

The most human pope in recent memory slips out of the Vatican’s golden cage for a few moments, then lambasts the cardinals of the Curia who think they run the place.
Oh the woe of being Pope Francis. On one hand, he clearly longs for the simple things in life, like shoe shopping. So much so that during the mad Roman pre-Christmas shopping rush, he left the protected grounds of Vatican City to visit a local pharmacy and pick up a new version of his famously simple orthopedic shoes. He blessed a cashier’s crucifix, signed a charge slip for the shoes, and went back through the hallowed gates to what some might be call his gilded cage.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/24/the-pope-s-christmas-dream-the-curia-s-nightmare.html 

A day that will live in irony...

"Test everything; retain what is good.” (1 Thes 5:21) A laywoman expresses concerns about issues in the Roman Catholic Church to foster positive dialogue by posing and exploring questions. Please remember that Canon Law says it is not only a right but a duty to question the church. Also, Canon Law provides an over-riding power to the sensus fidelium (sense of the faithful). By this, Canon Law says that if the sensus fidelium (collective of the faithful) reject a law, it is not valid.

http://questionsfromaewe.blogspot.co.nz/2016/12/a-day-that-will-live-in-irony.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+QuestionsFromAEwe+(Questions+from+a+Ewe) 

Six new Beatitudes proposed by Pope Francis

Pope Francis offered the list at a Mass celebrating the Feast of All Saints The Pope has offered a new list of Beatitudes at a Catholic Mass in Malmo, Sweden.

At the Mass, which took place at the conclusion of his ecumenical trip to the country, Pope Francis highlighted the lives of the Swedish saints Elizabeth Hesselblad and Bridget of Vadstena.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/11/01/six-new-beatitudes-proposed/#.WBscJJ5i3bU.facebook 

Vatican Clarifies the Rules for Cremation: Bury, Don’t Scatter

VATICAN CITY — Ashes to ashes is fine, the Vatican says, as long as you don’t spread them around.

On Tuesday, the Vatican responded to what it called an “unstoppable increase” in cremation and issued guidelines barring the scattering of ashes “in the air, on land, at sea or in some other way.”

The Vatican decreed that the ashes of loved ones have no place in the home, and certainly not in jewelry. It urged that cremated remains be preserved in cemeteries or other approved sacred places.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/26/world/europe/vatican-bans-scattering-of-human-ashes.html?emc=edit_tnt_20161025&nlid=63876270&tntemail0=y&_r=0 

Praying for Peace Two Cloistered Nuns Reach out with the Help of Technology to Help Victims of Priest Abuse;... RIP Dear Sisters

Mother Veronica and Sister Angela... stood along side us survivors... of nuns and priest worldwide... I spoke and emailed Sister Angela many times... and I found comfort from her words... she also emailed Peter from New Zealand as well... the two Sisters were gentle... and you knew by their words of support...  that they truly had us survivors... welfare in their hearts... even though they were having such a hard time... with the catholic church... and if they had a place to call home... they never left us survivors out in the cold... they were sweet caring nuns... Rest in Peace - Dear Sisters... you will always have a place in our Hearts... Ann 

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They love the Catholic Church. But they also ache for victims hurt by it.  Mother Veronica Sweeney and Sister Angela Ferry, diocesan nuns of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, have opened up their cloistered lives to reach victims of sexual abuse and the victims' families through the Internet and e-mail.
"People say it's a gay issue. It's not," Ferry said. "Gay men molesting boys, heterosexual men abusing girls, nuns abusing children: They're all abusing the vulnerable."  "Abuse continues when people do not listen to you," Sweeney said.
In late January, statements from the two contemplative nuns of the Monastery of Our Lady of Little Citeaux in Copperhill went online in two recently established Web sites: www.freewebs.com/thenuns and www.nunsfortheabused.com/nunsense.html. Since then, they have received hundreds of e-mails from as far away as Australia and Great Britain.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2004_01_06/2004_02_28_Hunter_PrayingFor.htm 

Spiritual but not religious

"Spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) is a popular phrase and initialism used to self-identify a life stance of spirituality that takes issue with organized religion as the sole or most valuable means of furthering spiritual growth. Spirituality places an emphasis upon the well-being of the "mind-body-spirit",^[1] so "holistic" activities such as tai chi, reiki, and yoga are common within the SBNR movement.^[2] In contrast to religion, spirituality has often been associated with the interior life of the individual.<sup>[3]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_but_not_religious</sup> 

German bishops say Martin Luther treated unfairly

In a shock to Roman Catholic traditionalists, the church bishops of Germany are praising Martin Luther, calling him a “Gospel witness and teacher of the Faith.”
A new report released last week by the German Bishops’ Conference, “The Reformation in Ecumenical Perspective,” Catholic Bishop Gerhard Feige, chairman of the German Bishops’ Ecumenical Commission, says the “history of the Reformation has encountered a changeable reception in the Catholic Church, where its event and protagonists were long seen in a negative, derogatory light.”

http://www.wnd.com/2016/08/german-bishops-say-martin-luther-treated-unfairly/

The Role of the Catholic Church in Yugoslavia’s Holocaust

During the Second World War in Yugoslavia, Catholic priests and Muslim clerics were willing accomplices in the genocide of the nation’s Serbian, Jewish and Roma population. From 1941 until 1945, the Nazi-installed regime of Ante Pavelic in Croatia carried out some of the most horrific crimes of the Holocaust (known as the Porajmos by the Roma), killing over 800,000 Yugoslav citizens – 750,000 Serbs, 60,000 Jews and 26,000 Roma.
In these crimes, the Croatian Ustasha and Muslim fundamentalists were openly supported by the Vatican, the Archbishop of Zagreb Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac (1898-1960), and the Palestinian Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. Many of the victims of the Pavelic regime in Croatia were killed in the war’s third largest death camp – Jasenovac, where over 200,000 people – mainly Orthodox Serbs met their deaths. Some 240,000 were “rebaptized” into the Catholic faith by fundamentalist Clerics in “the Catholic Kingdom of Croatia” as part of the policy to “kill a third, deport a third, convert a third” of Yugoslavia’s Serbs, Jews and Roma in wartime Bosnia and Croatia (The Yugoslav Auschwitz and the Vatican, Vladimar Dedijer, Anriman-Verlag, Freiburg, Germany, 1988).

http://churchandstate.org.uk/2015/12/the-role-of-the-catholic-church-in-yugoslavias-holocaust/ 

The Right-Wing Doesn’t Want to Talk About Christian Atrocities, So Let’s Talk About Christian Atrocities

The right-wing’s been freaking about Obama bringing up the crusades and the Inquisition, to show that Christianity doesn’t have a blood-free history. Whether it’s posting videos with skewed definitions of the Crusades or claiming Islam is still worse because reasons, they’re in a blind rush to defend the tribe and, in the process, they’re not orchestrating a very effective defense.

History is full of atrocities committed by Christians for Christ, against not just other religions but against Christians themselves. Let’s take a look at some of them, shall we?

http://churchandstate.org.uk/2016/03/the-right-wing-doesnt-want-to-talk-about-christian-atrocities-so-lets-talk-about-christian-atrocities/ 

Remember When 'Sylvester Stallone' Was Spotted In A Vatican Painting?

A visitor to Vatican City was stunned when he found the subject of a Raphael masterpiece had an uncanny resemblance to Sylvester Stallone. The doppelgänger was spotted by Harvard student Anthony Zonfrell, 20, who was on holiday in Italy with his family.

He said: “My cousin had told us about how she had seen it when she went, so we were on the lookout. "As soon as we saw the painting, we knew it was him. My whole family thought it was hilarious. It could actually be a portrait of Stallone.”

https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/remember-when-sylvester-stallone-was-spotted-in-121736586.html 

Pope: No to social climbers, money and power harm the Church

(Vatican Radio) Saying Jesus' path is serving others, Pope Francis urged Christians on Tuesday to overcome the lure of worldliness and human ambition and warned against social climbers who are tempted to destroy the other in order to reach the top. His remarks came during his homily at the morning Mass celebrated in the Santa Marta residence.
The gospel reading where Jesus’ disciples were arguing among themselves over who was the greatest was used by the Pope for his reflections about the dangers of power, money, ambition and vanity. He noted that whereas Jesus was warning his disciples about his coming humiliation and death, they were concerned with worldly matters such as who would become the most powerful among them.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/05/17/pope_no_to_social_climbers,_money_and_power_harm_the_church/1230403 

Rare view of Vatican justice in secrets trial

Next to St Peter's Basilica, two Swiss Guards stood underneath an arch. One carried a sword, the other a spear. The Vatican had evidently calculated that two guards familiar with medieval weaponry would be enough to deter a raid.

At the very least, they might be able to duel assailants into a standoff until reinforcements arrived. The guards allowed us into the heart of Vatican City, for a trial that has gripped Italians for weeks.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36310087