CATHOLIC NEWS: Pope leaves Castel Gandolfo on unannounced pilgrimage for Transfiguration... PLUS 11 MORE

CATHOLIC NEWS: Pope leaves Castel Gandolfo on unannounced pilgrimage for Transfiguration... PLUS 11 MORE

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Pope leaves Castel Gandolfo on unannounced pilgrimage for Transfiguration

Posted: 07 Aug 2010 02:37 AM PDT

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Aug 7, 2010 / 04:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a symbolic gesture, the Holy Father went to the mountains to pray on the Feast of the Transfiguration. During the day trip away from his summer residence he visited a number of places, taking the time also to drop in on some old friends.

Our Pilgrimage Began in the Holy Land

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 06:36 PM PDT

We began our journey in Caesarea Maritime, on the coast of Israel. There we found the remains of the ancient Roman city built by Herod to honor Caesar Augustus and to establish his kingdom as a center for trade and entertainment. He built the port with both inner and outer harbors to attract trade and the shipping industry. His plan worked.

"Just promise me you're not going to become a nun"

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 07:36 PM PDT

An Evangelical Protestant attorney couldn't make that promise to her mother when she announced that she was studying to become a Catholic. And now, she could end up spending her life in a cloister. Her amazing story, from the Catholic Anchor: Many find it hard to fathom why a woman would ever think of trading in a good job and the prospect of marriage and family for...

QUAERITUR: no confessionals and no confession times

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 02:23 PM PDT

From a reader: I am requesting help re: the application of Canon 964.2 and 986.1 [which concerns the Seal]. The parish has been the host of a monthly homeschool Mass for a group from all over for a few years. They have just moved from a temporary building to a new church building...

Vatican faces yet another gay priest exposé

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 02:18 PM PDT

An image released July 23 shows the cover of the Italian magazine Panorama. (AFP/Panorama) Analysis Literature about the Vatican already contains a number of popular subgenres, such as papal biographies and potboiler novels (think Shoes of the Fisherman ). Now an additional category probably should be added to the list...

Who Goes to Mass and Who Doesn't. The Uncertain Tomorrow of Catholic Italy

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:00 PM PDT

The level of religious practice is still high. But it is collapsing among young people. In the near future, Italy could cease being a model of popular and widespread Christianity for the other Churches of Europe.

A few Carmelite Nuggets

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 08:45 AM PDT

I know Carmelites are considered the heavy-duty contemplatives, but it was Teresa of Avila (or Teresa of Jesus) who said to God, "if this is how you treat your friends, small wonder you have so few!" 10. God save us from sour faced saints! (St...

Catholic apologists gathered in Steubenville over the weekend. Look what happened..

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 01:16 PM PDT

Participating in the annual "Defending the Faith" conference as a speaker, as I have for more than a decade now, is truly one of the high points of my year. I absolutely soak up all the energy and fellowship and palpable Catholic piety that pervades the 1400 or so who attend. It's always a great opportunity to see and catch up with old friends...

Q&A with Fr. Joseph Tobin

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 08:58 AM PDT

Joseph Tobin (photo courtesy of Redemptorists/Denver Province) Elevating another American to a senior Vatican position, Pope Benedict XVI on Monday named Redemptorist Fr. Joseph Tobin as the new secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, colloquially known as the "Congregation for Religious."

Whither L'Osservatore Romano?

Posted: 06 Aug 2010 10:07 AM PDT

In the wake of the large gathering of altar servers, male and female, in Rome this last week, the Vatican's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has an essay by one Lucetta Scaraffia. Lucetta Scaraffia is not a girl or young woman who was an altar server in the crowd who wrote an essay: "What I did on my summer vacation". No...

Dominus Iesus: Liberal or Conservative?

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 03:30 PM PDT

By PETER KREEFT | Dominus Iesus, published Aug. 6, 2000, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is one of the most important Church documents of modern times because it concerns what is absolutely central and primary in Christianity, Christ himself...

On the Feast of the Transfiguration: A Meditation on Seeing

Posted: 05 Aug 2010 09:13 PM PDT

The Feast of the Transfiguration is ultimately about vision. The Lord brought Peter, James and John up a high mountain in order that they might come to see. Even the word that describes this day bespeaks vision. It is from the Latin Transfiguratione. Trans means "across" and by extension "change" and figura, means "shape" or "form."...