After Olympics, Turkey's Erdogan seeks unity with Pope Francis against acts that mock sacred values (yahoo.com)
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Pope Francis on Thursday about the “immoral display” at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics and called for a unified stance against acts that ridicule sacred values, according to a statement from Erdogan’s office.
The Turkish leader told the pontiff in a telephone call that “human dignity was being trampled on, religious and moral values were being mocked, offending Muslims as much as the Christian world,” the statement said.
In an unprecedented display of inclusivity, drag queens took center stage at the ceremony last week, showcasing the vibrant and influential role of the French LGBTQ+ community.
But the ceremony also attracted criticism over a tableau reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.” The scene featured drag queens and other performers in a configuration reminiscent of Jesus …More

J.D. Vance in Serious Trouble After Damning Project 2025 Book Foreword (yahoo.com)
As Trump desperately tries to separate his campaign from Project 2025, users on X have noted one big problem: J.D. Vance wrote the foreword to a forthcoming book by the plan’s lead author, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts.
Heritage Foundation president and Project 2025 head Kevin Roberts outlines a peaceful "Second American Revolution" for voters looking to shift the power back into the hands of the people.
America is on the brink of destruction. A corrupt and incompetent elite has uprooted our way of life and is brainwashing the next generation. Many so-called conservatives are as culpable as their progressive counterparts.
In this ambitious and provocative book, Heritage Foundation President Dr. Kevin Roberts announces the arrival of a New Conservative Movement. His message is simple: Global elites — your time is up.
Dawn’s Early Light blazes a promising path for the American people to take …More

Saper fare un passo indietro - 22 luglio 2024
22 luglio 2024
Rinunciare costa. E molto. Non bisogna necessariamente rivestire un posto di potere o un incarico di grande rilevanza. A volte anche rinunciare a una nostra consolidata abitudine di lavoro o a una posizione conquistata con fatica può risultare molto difficile. Ecco perché ogni volta che una personalità di rilievo pubblico sceglie di fare un passo indietro, di congedarsi, coglie immediatamente la simpatia e la stima dell’opinione pubblica. Lo abbiamo sperimentato in modo eclatante l’11 febbraio del 2013 con la storica rinuncia al ministero petrino di Benedetto XVI . Lo cogliamo — seppur in un ambito diverso — altrettanto evidentemente in queste ultime 24 ore dopo che il presidente statunitense Joe Biden ha annunciato che fermerà la sua corsa per un secondo mandato alla Casa Bianca, lasciando al suo partito la scelta di un nuovo candidato per sfidare Donald Trump (Biden ha tuttavia già indicato nella vice presidente Kamala Harris …More

July 10, 2024
On a sunny afternoon in May, Zachary Galante was sitting in a conference room in St. Francis de Sales Seminary with several other young men, talking about what it meant for them to choose the Catholic priesthood in the year 2024. The next morning, they would make lifelong promises of celibacy and obedience, and they were palpably elated by the prospect.
“It’s a beautiful life,” Deacon Galante, soon to become Father Galante, said.
There was a time where the church “maybe apologized for being Catholic,” he said later in the conversation. He and the other new priests agreed they were called to something different: advancing the Catholic faith, even the parts that could seem out of place in an increasingly hostile world. “The church is Catholic, and so we should announce that joyfully,” he said.
In an era of deep divisions in the American Catholic Church, and ongoing pain over the continuing revelations of sexual abuse by priests over decades, there is increasing unity among …More

Pope who once advised learning from tattoos bans them in the Vatican
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ROME – Back in 2018, Pope Francis famously insisted the Church should not be “afraid” of the tattoos many young people sport, saying that priests actually can learn from them because they often communicate something important about the personality of the wearer.
“It’s important not to be scared. With young people, one should never be scared. Never,” he said at the time.
It turns out, however, that the pontiff’s seemingly benign view of tattoos doesn’t extend to his own workforce in the Vatican. New rules for employees of St. Peter’s Basilica issued June 29 specify that personnel may not have visible tattoos or piercings, and theoretically could be suspended if they do.
The new provisions were part of a twin set of new statutes released on Saturday, which the feast day of Sts. Peter and Paul, one governing the Fabbrica di San Pietro, meaning the administration of the basilica, and the other its “chapter,” referring …More

June 22, 2024
When reports spread that Pope Francis had used an offensive anti-gay slur while speaking to Italian bishops at a conference last month, many Catholics were both shocked and baffled. How could a pope known for his openness to and acceptance of L.G.B.T.Q. people use homophobic slang and caution prelates about admitting gay men into seminaries?
But the question, and the apparent inconsistency in Francis’ messaging, reflect the deep contradictions and tensions that underlie the Roman Catholic Church’s and Francis’ relationship to homosexuality.
The church holds that “homosexual tendencies” are “intrinsically disordered.” When it comes to ordination, the church’s guidelines state that people with “deep-seated” gay tendencies should not become priests.
Yet ordination has also long been a refuge of sorts for homosexual Catholic men, according to researchers and priests, who say that at least thousands of clergymen are gay, though only a few are public about their sexual orientation …More

Clues of bloody Biblical battle between angel of God and 185K invading soldiers uncovered in Jerusalem: new research (yahoo.com)
Sun, June 16, 2024 at 8:31 PM GMT
A newly discovered archaeological site may provide evidence of Biblical truth.
Researchers in Jerusalem have uncovered an ancient military base that may provide clues of a battle ground for God’s army against Assyrian soldiers who came to conquer the Holy Land around 2,700 years ago, per a Sunday report in the Daily Mail.
As the Bible story goes, an angel of the Lord is said to have descended on the invading troops and killed 185,000 soldiers in a night.
This stone carved relief depicts an attack on Lachish during Sennacherib’s campaign of 701 BC. Universal Images Group via Getty Images
The Assyrian Empire reigned from 1,365 to 609 BC, led by King Sennacherib’s campaign to control all routes across the Syrian Desert that led to the Mediterranean Sea.
A previously known carving on the stone walls of Sennacherib’s palace depicts …More

ANNA MARIA TAIGI: Was die Selige aus Rom mit Anna Schäffer aus Bayern verbindet
Es ist die Geschichte von Anna Schäffer aus dem kleinen bayerischen Ort Mindelstetten. Als junge Frau verbrühte sie sich die Beine in kochender Lauge und war von da an an ihr Bett gefesselt. Sie nahm das Leid an, empfing die Wundmale Jesu und hatte Visionen. Vor knapp sechs Jahren wurde sie heiliggesprochen.
Ihre Geschichte kennen seitdem viele. Doch ein interessanter Vorfall aus ihrem Leben ist weitgehend unbekannt: Im Traum war ihr eine Frau erschienen, die ebenfalls den Vornamen Anna trug. Die Rede ist von der seligen Anna Maria Taigi.
Zum Namenstag der beiden Frauen, dem Gedenktag der heiligen Mutter Anna (26. Juli), hat sich Monsignore Georg Schwager auf Spurensuche begeben.
Monsignore Georg Schwager blickt in die Seitenkapelle der Kirche San Crisogono.
Auf Spurensuche in Rom
Wir befinden uns im Stadtteil Trastevere in Rom, in der Basilika San Crisogono. In einer Seitenkapelle der Kirche sind die Gebeine …More

Novena to Saint Joan of Arc
MAY 22, 2024
ISFCC
Novena to Saint Joan of Arc - ISFCC
Novena to Saint Joan of Arc
(May 30 is the feast day of Saint John of Arc)
Pray novena for 9 consecutive days
Eternal Father, Thou gave us Saint Joan of Arc through Thine infinite love and mercy for us. We humbly ask Thee to send down Thine Holy Spirit upon us, as the intermediary by which the Word goes forth from Thy lips and reaches the ears of the faithful. Allow me to be a witness to Thy Son Jesus Christ just as Saint Joan of Arc was. O Lord Jesus, grant me the courage to do Thy will, that I may be in one accord with Our Father in Heaven. I thank Thee for the gift of Thy love, which I hope to one day fully understand. Petition Prayer Pray 19 times the Our Father, followed by “Saint Joan of Arc, by thy powerful intercession, hear and answer me.” Then Pray: Saint Joan of Arc, patron of France, my patron saint, I ask thee now to fight this battle with me by prayer, just as thou led thy troops to victory …More

A ‘plague’ comes before the fall: lessons from Roman history
By Colin Elliott | May 15, 2024
A ‘plague’ comes before the fall: lessons from Roman history - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (thebulletin.org)
The ruins of the Colosseum in Rome. Credit: Livioandronico2013. CC BY-SA 4.0.
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The Pax Romana—the 200-year “golden age” of the Roman Empire—was a marvel of diversity, connectivity, and unchallenged hegemony. By the middle of the second century AD, imperial Rome ruled territory across three different continents. Roughly one-quarter of the Earth’s population, some 60 million people, lived under Rome’s vast aegis, and the emperors of the age—most notably Marcus Aurelius—enjoyed the consent of those they governed. The Empire’s elites—witnessing the disciplined legions, widespread religiosity, cultural efflorescence, and dominant economy—likely expected their world order to endure forever.
In the year 166 AD, however, seemingly eternal Rome was caught completely off-guard as a …More

CNN identified several of the counter-protesters who caused chaos at a protest at UCLA recently. Kyung Lah reports.
Video: Violence on UCLA campus was linked to outsiders, CNN investigation finds | CNN

Giovanni di Benedetto (active c. 1350–1390) was a famous illuminator of manuscripts and painter of frescos. He was one of the masters of the studio attached to the court of the Visconti family which, during the Middle Ages, ruled over the Duchy of Milan (present-day Lombardy in northern Italy). The miniature that illustrates the cover of your May issue of Magnificat comes from a Missal-Book of Hours that he produced around 1385. It depicts the coming of the Spirit of Christ upon the world as a dove sending the rays of its light from the highest heaven.
Infunde amorem cordibus
This sort of image of the Holy Spirit, alone, flooding the world with its rays, was frequently used from the 13th century on, as a supplement to the depiction of Pentecost, especially in works of private devotion. Its purpose was to show that although the Holy Spirit was indeed sent to the apostles—on Pentecost—so that they and their successors might be the authentic witnesses of Jesus to the ends of the earth, …More

Author - Damien Murphy - TFP Student Action
On February 3rd, something truly terrible happened. Robbers broke into our Cavan base, stealing and vandalising. Thankfully our statue of Our Lady of Fatima was not harmed.
However, the robbers did smash several doors, stole safes, and broke filing cabinets. My colleague in Cavan immediately had the doors replaced in order to secure the property but we now have another problem...
Our base in Drogheda is also vulnerable to robbery. I need to quickly take measures to ensure that our base in Drogheda is also not robbed or vandalised. Cameras, doors, locks... I have a solid plan to ensure the security of the base.
Can you help us secure our premises? If you are able to help with a donation, we would be extremely grateful. Can you help us make our base REALLY secure?
Yes Damien, I will support you with a donation!
It's not just robbers either that I am concerned about.
Ireland is increasingly more hateful towards Catholics and any opposition to the …More

Colleges Warn Student Demonstrators: Enough
After years of tolerating unruly protests, some schools are starting to suspend and expel students, raising questions about where they should draw the line.
April 18, 2024
The 100-year-old annual honors convocation at the University of Michigan is typically a decorous affair, with a pipe organ accompanying golf-clap applause.
This year’s event was anything but. Protesters rose from their seats, and unfurled banners with “Free Palestine” written in red paint. They shouted, “You are funding genocide!”
Unable to continue with the ceremony, university officials cut it short, as hundreds of disappointed students and their parents stood up and walked out.
Two days after the honors convocation, the university’s president, Santa J. Ono, issued a stern rebuke: Enough.
“Like many of you, I am proud of our university’s history of protest,” he said. “But none of us should be proud of what happened on Sunday.” He announced that the school would draft a new …More

12 Gennaio 2024
Gaza: 10.000 bambini uccisi in quasi 100 giorni di guerra. Dal 7 ottobre è stato segnalato un numero record di gravi violazioni contro i bambini, tra cui la negazione dell'accesso a un'adeguata assistenza umanitaria all’intera popolazione infantile | Save the Children Italia
Più di 10.000 bambini sono stati uccisi dagli attacchi aerei e dalle operazioni di terra israeliane nella Striscia in quasi 100 giorni di violenza
Gaza: 10.000 bambini uccisi in 100 giorni di guerra (savethechildren.it)
secondo gli ultimi dati forniti dal Ministero della Sanità di Gaza, e altre migliaia risultano dispersi, presumibilmente sepolti sotto le macerie.
"Per ogni giorno senza un cessate il fuoco definitivo, sono stati uccisi in media 100 bambini. La situazione a Gaza è orrenda e rappresenta una piaga per tutta la nostra umanità”, ha dichiarato Jason Lee, direttore nazionale di Save the Children per i Territori palestinesi occupati.

Priesterbruderschaft St. Petrus - Sonstige
Zum Seminar für Brautleute und Ehepaare vom 21. – 25. Mai in Marienfried sind noch Plätze frei. Es richtet sich an alle, die ihre Ehe vertiefen oder sie von vornherein auf ein richtig gutes Fundament stellen wollen. Gerne gebe ich weitere Informationen.
Zu Christi Himmelfahrt, 9. Mai 2024, werden wir wieder eine feierliche hl. Messe in der ehem. Klosterkirche in Rheinau feiern. Auch zum Zweck weiterer Werbung lege ich eine Information in den Anhang.
Mein Mitbruder P. Altmann pilgert vom 10. – 17. Mai nach Fatima und hätte dazu noch Plätze frei: JulianAltmann@gmx.de
Für die Priesterexerzitien vom 26. – 31. August in Wigratzbad sollte noch geworben werden. Sprechen Sie gerne Ihre Priester darauf an!