Today should one attend a wedding, it is quite possible that the parents of either the bride or groom in attendance will be married, either in the Catholic Church or outside it, to someone other than the one they were first married to. In such a case, one would find oneself praying that the offspring of said marriage will not meet with the same fate.  The state of marriage today is what it is in part due to poor sacramental preparation in the years immediately following Vatican II for reasons I take up in my book, another fruit of the “sexual revolution” . Sad, but as is well-known, many young Catholics these days are delaying marriage, hooking up, practicing birth control, and  cohabiting  before getting married. Traditional marriage is under assault, and many baptized Catholics are joining in the attack, especially in favoring “same-sex marriage.” Thus it is inspiring to see the shepherds of the flocks gathering in synod to discuss “the pastoral challenges o...

In an  earlier  post I noted a similarity between the current Pope and Pope Paul VI. Soon the Holy Father, Pope Francis will decide whether or not to approve communion for the divorced and remarried. The Pope’s decision will come at the end of 2015 or at the beginning of 2016, under pressure of a public opinion that at that point is likely to be almost exclusively expecting a yes. As I discussed in my book, this is much the same as the pressure for change in the licentious decade of the 1960's, when Paul VI had to decide on the legitimacy of contraceptives, with many theologians, bishops, and cardinals in favor. As is now legendary, in 1968 Paul VI decided against in his encyclical, Humanae vitae , an encyclical that suffered bitter contestation on the part of whole episcopates, and disobedience from countless among the faithful. Always the Pope to do the unforeseen, he will take Paul VI’s encyclical as his frame of reference, as stated in a March 5 interview with...

I n his introductory Remarks  during his meeting with Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, Pope Francis gave an insightful analysis of why peace has been so evasive in the Holy Land: “History teaches that our own powers do not suffice. More than once we have been on the verge of peace, but the evil one, employing a variety of means, has succeeded in blocking it. That is why we are here, because we know and we believe that we need the help of God. We do not renounce our responsibilities, but we do call upon God in an act of supreme responsibility before our consciences and before our peoples.” Here is the text of The Holy Father's Prepared Speech:  The Pope with P Distinguished Presidents, Your Holiness, Brothers and Sisters, I greet you with immense joy and I wish to offer you, and the eminent delegations accompanying you, the same warm welcome which you gave to me during my recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I am profoundly grateful to you for accepting my invitati...

In a recent post I told of Pope Francis' statement that  " Gender ideology is demonic !"  We now read of a 73-year-old American transsexual who has just won a verdict that Medicare must pay his/her medical expenses for genital reconstruction surgery. He (or she) had been living as a woman off and on ever since he was a teenager, but at the age of 68 he decided to make a permanent sex reassignment. Given that same-sex marriage is legal in 19 states, many are pushing the cause of transgender people as the new new civil rights movement. The complete normality of transexualism is becoming the new accepted view, as people are increasingly afraid of saying no to any desire as long as it hurts no one else. Before jumping on this bandwagon, it might behoove us to consider the the fruits of this procedure.  Those with transsexualism, after sex reassignment, have considerably higher risks for mortality, suicidal behavior, and psychiatric morbidity than the general population. F...

Fr. Z has been king enough to put together his day experiences at Acton U , though these days can be tiring.... As a teacher in an all-girls Catholic school I was captivated by Fr.'s encounter with a compatriot in the battle, as he recounts: " At breakfast a young fellow who is a religion teacher at a Catholic all girls high school told me that, during Lent, he started class each day by playing my podcasts, and, so he related, the girls really liked them. I am left with the amusing image of a class room full of teenage girls listening to Fulton Sheen and Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet."   Never too old to learn! Fr. Sirico with Ross Douthat

If one types "Libido Redux" on this blog's search engine, you will see various events which corroborate Pope Paul VI's prophecy that the human libido is a "crack" through which Satan can play havoc with souls. Here is the latest in the series, which should enlighten the reader, the stats on children and Christians in particular.  From one who knows the truth of Paul's prophecy: "I have posted on a number of other articles about porn, but I wanted to post here as well to reach out to anyone else who, like me, is a porn addict. I tried for the first 9 years of marriage to stop looking at porn, and I could not. I asked God to help me stop, I went to confession, I received the Eucharist daily, but I could not stop. It was not enough for me to do it on my own with God. I had to ask for help from other people, see a counselor, and get into a 12-step recovery program, and that is how God is healing me. I believe the numbers here because I understand ...

A dear friend is attending   Acton University  in Grand Rapids, MI. She is determined to get me to attend next year (it is expensive). I must admit, I am considering it since running across   Fr. Z 's personal reports from the conference.

In a private conversation with Bishop Andreas Laun on January 30 as part of the Austrian bishops’  ad limina visit , Pope Francis strongly condemned “gender ideology.” In so doing he follows the example of Pope Benedict, who is on record as saying that gender ideology is “a negative trend for humankind,” and a “profound falsehood,” which “it is the duty of pastors of the Church” to put the faithful “on guard against.” Bishop Laun The Austrian bishop stated, “In response to my questioning, Pope Francis said, ‘Gender ideology is demonic!’” As I have chronicled on these pages, the Holy Father often refers to the work of the devil. Of gender ideology, Bishop Laun explained that “the core thesis of this sick product of reason is the end result of a radical feminism which the homosexual lobby has made its own.” “It asserts that there are not only Man and Woman, but also other ‘genders’. And furthermore: every person canchoose his or her gender,” he added. “Today,” he said, ...

 I have a copy of the Bishop's response to San Fran Nan Pelosi's warning to The Archbishop: THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE OF THE ARCHBISHOP ONE PETER YORKE WAY, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94109-6602 (415) 614-5500 June 16, 2014 California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom Gabriel Blau, Executive Director, Family California State Senator Mark Leno Equality Council California Assemblymember Tom Ammiano Fr. Roy Bourgeois, Founder School of California Assemblymember Rich Gordon the Americas Watch San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros Gary Buseck, Interim Executive Director San Francisco Supervisor David Campos Rea Carey, Executive Director, National Gay and San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener Lesbian Task Force Dr. Michael J. Adee, Director, Global Faith and Faith Cheltenham, President, BINET USA Justice Project, Horizons Foundations, Francis DeBernardo, Executive Director, New San Fr...

Archbisop Cordileone Minority Leader Pelosi Pope Francis has said recently that the Devil wants to destroy the family.   This is interesting, since Nancy Pelosi has cited Pope Francis ( "If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has good will, then who am I to judge him?")  in warning  San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone   not attend the National Organization for  Marriage’s June 19 march on the Supreme Court in Washington D.C.  Archbishop Cordileone, who has admitted,  "The ultimate attack of the evil one is the attack on marriage," is scheduled to speak at the march.

Fr. Longenecker Father Longenecker has has observed a contemporary phenomenon which presents a target-rich environment for the New Evangelization-- M oralistic T herapeutic D eism:  “MTD” is deadly because it eventually kills off true religion. Because “MTD” mimics true religion people think it is true religion, but then they draw the obvious conclusion: if religion is only about therapy and making the world a better place, then why do you need God? If the Deist God is sitting on the other side of a cloud doing nothing then why bother going to church to worship him?The reason why the Catholic faith is shutting down in so much of Europe and North America is because millions of Catholics are infected with “MTD.” They have had no direct experience of the living God in their lives and believe he is an old grandfather who resides in heaven never being involved in this world. They have assumed that religion is no more than just another self help method and that being a ...

Final thoughts on the Rolling Stone feature on Pope Francis… The article attempts to show Francis’ break from the supposedly “conservative” Church of old, in the process remaking Pope Francis as the hero of the liberal left. It uses the scandals of Vatican finance and sexual abuse, coupled with old stories about Opus Dei and the Latin Mass, to fashion Pope Benedict XVI as a “conservative” conniver. In short, Francis is portrayed as the populist leader of a movement to “liberalize” the Catholic Church. Certainly the article contains a great deal of untruth. Inconvenient facts, like Francis’ theological orthodoxy, are ignored. Rolling Stone draws arbitrary conclusions from selected illustrations drawn from the Pope’s life. Why would this pop cultural icon do this? Easy. Sexual and social relativists wish to refashion Christianity such that they may claim Christ, and his vicar, as their supporters, for their social agenda is more appetizing to people if it complements, r...

Here is an update on t he baptized Catholic Duke woman who intends to avoid her college Debt at Duke through commission of the sin of engaging in pornography: Oremus.

Pope Francis drew the theme for his June 5th homily from the Gospel reading for the day, from John 17:20-26, and Jesus’ prayer that there would be unity among His followers, not divisions and conflict, this as we observe Pentecost and its recounting of Jews from all over the world hearing the disciples and understanding, despite their many different tongues.  The pope signalled out “Uniformists”  who are  " are rigid!,”   who  “call themselves Catholics, but their rigid attitude distances them from the Church.”   Who might he have had in mind? Catholic traditionalists, who are critical of Francis   much as they were of his predecessors?  Many in the blogosphere think so.  The Pope also mentioned “Alternativists,”  those who hold alternative teachings and doctrines and thus have  “a partial belonging to the church," not recognizing that its teaching is based on the preaching of Jesus and the apostolic tradition...

It is in the person of the bishop that Our Lord is present in the midst of the Church community, wherein through his service Christ preaches the Word of God, administers the sacraments, incorporates new members into His Body and guides the faithful to their eternal destiny, the Beatific vision. The bishops have no less than the responsibility of taking “the place of Christ Himself, teacher, shepherd, priest and to act as his representatives ( in eius persona ).... Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Wisconsin in response to  Federal Judge's Ruling on Marriage: First, it bears repeating that, we must respect, love, and care for every individual we encounter, regardless of who they are, where they come from, or how they define themselves. This will never change. It is at the core of who we are as members of Christ’s Church. Christ, Himself, invites each individual to know and love Him and live a life in response to His love. His love and mercy can heal all divisions th...

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. -Colossians 3:1-5 Pope Paul VI wrote of four evils that would result from a disobedience to Church teaching set down in his encyclical: ·        that widespread contraceptive practice would lead to “conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality” ·        men… would “lose respect” for women and no longer care for their physical and psychological enjoyment ·        the contraceptive mentality would “place a dangerous weapon…in the hands of those public authorities who take no heed of moral exigencies” ·        contraception would lead humans into thinking they have unrestricted authority over their bodies. It is easy to show from the historical record that the Holy Spirit had guided the heart and mind of Paul ...

  A 19-year-old college student committed suicide just two weeks after making her first pornographic video for website CastingCouch-X. The 19-year-old was a straight-A student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, but took her life after the abusive messages via Twitter and Facebook soon began to role in. It turns out upon a little investigation that women in the pornographic film industry, who were created never to separate their emotions from their sexual faculty, often become depressed fter shooting scenes, and then often do things to take their minds off of the sinful activity, i.e. getting drunk or doing drugs like Xanax, cocaine, or ecstasy to fight the depression. Alyssa Funke Michelle Truax, who works with the anti-pornography non-profit  XXXChurch , says that almost all – if not all – of the women who have been mentored through its ministry have suffered with bouts of depression. Truax:  "It goes so much deeper than just the...

Pope St. John Paul II Pope John Paul II has said of the  humanist cosmology strongly ingrained in both theology and philosophy at the opening of the Second Vatican Council  that,“by exchanging relevance for truth, this form of modernism shows itself incapable of satisfying the demands of truth to which theology is called to respond”. Nevertheless, it remains among prominent laity, religious and priests today, in effect a rejection of Catholic teaching on divine revelation, human nature, and God’s gift of reason as capable of leading us to Him. Fr. de Lubac noted that the apostasy of this man-centered “society” developed under the pretext of “renewal, ecumenism, or adaptation” to modernity. We as Catholics should be attentive to Church teaching in acknowledging the reality of and the need to combat evil in the world through our adherence to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and its primary message, the universal call to holiness. -from The Smoke of Satan ...