The female "Archbishop" of Canterbury has given Hafiz Tahir Ashrafi an award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation. He's the chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council - a group of Islamic scholars. The lady next to him is his wife. (Apparently, this is not a Monty Python sketch. )
The carnival musician who almost married but then became a monk is now heading Heiligenkreuz. The 84 voting monks of the "conservative" Cistercian abbey of Heiligenkreuz near Vienna elected Fr Simeon Wester, 61, as their new superior today. He will lead the community for the next three years without becoming abbot. Born Karl Wester in Unkel on the Rhine, Germany, he grew up as one of five children. Music came early: piano, organ and trombone, followed by formal studies in choral conducting, singing and church music. As a young man, he was involved in the Rhineland carnival scene. Years later, when the musician decided to become a monk, the Cologne tabloid Express put the story on its front page: “Our carnival fool is going to the monastery.” Wester had felt drawn to monastic life since his teens but initially chose music. Around the age of 35, close to marrying his long-term girlfriend, he finally made the leap. He entered Heiligenkreuz in 2001. Music followed him behind the monastery …More
Bishop Laurent Le Boulc’h announced in late August that the Diocese of Lille will shrink from 106 parishes to just 30, and from 14 deaneries to 5. Consultations run through 2026, with new boundaries due in 2027 and implementation in summer 2028. The sweeping restructuring is presented as part of the diocese’s “missionary renewal.”
Diocèse de Lille : de 106 paroisses à une trentaine en 2027, une réforme d’ampleur Le diocèse de Lille prépare une réorganisation historique : environ 30 paroisses en 2027 contre 106 aujourd’hui. Une réforme qui pose la question de la proximité sacerdotale et sacramentelle. Lire la suite sur LeCatho : Lille : le diocèse va passer de 106 paroisses à … #ACTUALITE#FRANCE#RELIGION#diocesedeLille
This piece names the Sweetwater turbine graveyard for what it is: a subsidized promise that left a Texas town with the remains. It asks the same questions of the next industrial plant, including data halls. Who pays at the start, what the place must surrender while it runs, and what the community inherits when the operator is gone. Accuracy first, then justice for the land and the people who live on it.
The Republican Party has a neo-Nazi problem. Sept. 16, 2026 nytimes.com/…/opinion/republican-party-alt-right-… By Jamelle Bouie Opinion Columnist This is not slander or pejorative or innuendo; it is the plain truth of the matter, a conclusion drawn from simple observation. And the problem has been getting worse. Consider a few of the people staffing the Trump administration. There is Paul Ingrassia, acting general counsel of the General Services Administration, who withdrew his nomination to serve as special counsel of the United States after Politico published a trove of offensive remarks from his social media and group chats. “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it,” Ingrassia, who is 31, wrote in a text in 2024. “We need competent white men in positions of leadership,” he wrote in another message. “The founding fathers were wrong that all men are created equal … We need to reject that part of our heritage.” There is Nate Hochman, a young Republican operative …More
Homily Friday, September 18, 2026 1 Corinthians 15:12-20 "Christ is risen." Life goes on. Luke 8:1-3 "Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God." The mere fact that Jesus passed among people was already Good News. Joy and peace flooded hearts, and miracles became possible. Biblical texts: NAB-RE Normand Thomas.
VIRGINIA BISHOP URGES CATHOLICS TO OPPOSE AMENDMENTS ON MARRIAGE AND ABORTION | SG News Catholic Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington has taken an unusually direct step ahead of Virginia’s November election, urging Catholics across his diocese to oppose two proposed constitutional amendments involving abortion and marriage. In a letter communicated across the Diocese of Arlington’s 70 parishes, which serve more than 430,000 Catholics in Northern Virginia, Bishop Burbidge described the proposals as “two dangerous ballot initiatives.” The first, Ballot Question 1, is the Virginia Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment. The proposed constitutional amendment would establish a fundamental right to make decisions concerning pregnancy, including abortion, contraception, miscarriage management and fertility care. It would allow Virginia to regulate abortion during the third trimester, but would prohibit the state from banning an abortion when, in a physician’s professional judgment, it is …More
Bishop Strickland rejects yesterday's Vatican document marking 60 years of Nostra Aetate. Bishop Emeritus Joseph Strickland from Tyler, Texas, wrote on X.com on September 16 that the new Vatican document - approved by Leo XIV - “must be rejected and repudiated by all who hold Jesus Christ and His Church as the only way to the Father.” He refers to §54 on ‘The Path of Hope’: “The defensive entrenchment in one’s own position and the view that proselytism is the only way to engage with the other no longer make sense in a world that increasingly resembles an interconnected and constantly evolving global village.” Strickland counters: “Truth is not constantly evolving, Truth is Jesus Christ present with us in the world and His Church is the vehicle for our salvation.” #newsZzmwnhglqh
Christ, the Son of God, and the second Person of the Blessed Trinity said without HIM and baptism, one will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. This cannot be denied or watered down.
Russo placed Kaepernick up for adoption and at 5 weeks old he was placed with a white couple named Rick and Teresa Kaepernick. The couple had two biological children: son Kyle and daughter Devon. The Kaepernicks decided to adopt a boy after losing two other sons to heart defects. Colin Kaepernick - Wikipedia
Belgian Bishop Trains Married Men to Be Ordained Priests by 2028. Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp, Belgium, told LaLibre.be on September 14 about his plan, announced already in March, to ordain married men to the priesthood by 2028. In June, he informed two Curia Cardinals about his course of action: Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy, and Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops. Monsignor Bonny claims that the move is driven "by necessity", pointing to the acute shortage of priests in Flanders. Antwerp diocese has fewer than 70 priests under the age of 70, two-thirds of whom are from abroad. The Cardinals replied that they would discuss it with Pope Leo XIV. Bishop Bonny has identified several candidates for priestly ordination. They are receiving theological and pastoral training comparable to that of seminarians. The preparation is being conducted “in a transparent but discreet manner, away from the media spotlight,” he …More
Diocese of Fresno Freezes Retirement Accounts, Retirees Concerned 23ABC News | KERO Retirement accounts for current and former employees of the Diocese of Fresno were frozen in June, creating uncertainty...
Leo XIV. continues Abu Dhabi Document: False religions become “expressions of God’s will”. On September 16, three Vatican Dicasteries - Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue - published the document The Path of Hope: A Note on the 60th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate. Leo XIV. approved the text on June 22. Religions may become expressions of God's will §58 contains perhaps the document’s most troubling claim: The “religions are called to transform the world and society so that they may become fraternal expressions of God’s will”. Vatican II “Changed” Church’s understanding The document admits in §1 that Vatican II’ declaration Nostra Aetate “marked a profound change in the Church’s understanding and expression of her relationship with followers of other religions”. “Sacred” texts of the false religions §32 claims that there is a universal criterion of discernment that can be found in the “sacred texts” …More
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Bishop Laurent Le Boulc’h announced in late August that the Diocese of Lille will shrink from 106 parishes to just 30, and from 14 deaneries to 5. Consultations run through 2026, with new boundaries due in 2027 and implementation in summer 2028. The sweeping restructuring is presented as part of the diocese’s “missionary renewal.”Diocèse de Lille : de 106 paroisses à une trentaine en 2027, une réforme d’ampleur
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