Bishop Anthony Fisher OP: Ten Myths about the Catholic Church

This was recorded on the 3 March 2014 at The Commercial Hotel, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia.
From xt3.com via CathNews (Audio only).

 Index. Click on topic below. 
1. Rolling Stone's Pope Francis Vs the Real Pope Francis
2. Women. Do women have souls?
3.Treating Gays badly.
4. HIV/AIDS. How the Church killed millions of people.
5. Vatican Wealth.
6. Child Sex Abuse.
7. Past Misdeeds of the Church - Crusades etc.
8. The Church opposed to Science.
9. Sin and Catholic Guilt.
10. Evangelisation and the Responsibility of the Laity.
Questions and Answers.

NBC Coverage of Papal Conclave

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Cardinal Burke: On the Theo-Centric Character of the Catholic Liturgy

Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke from Province of Saint Joseph on Vimeo.

Al Kresta discusses the new Roman Missal

From Ave Maria Radio

MissalPrep.com

Christian anthropology versus the Sexual Revolution

PETER KREEFT

How does Christ revolutionize the Sexual Revolution? Not by turning back the clock, not by a new Victorianism, not by opposing religion to sex, but by showing their real and profound connection.

To see that the Sexual Revolution has been radical in thought as well as behavior, just look at the revolution in language. When people use the word "morality" today they almost always mean sexual morality. That's a remarkable new development, an astonishing narrowing; it's as if we started to use the word "state" to mean only Russia, or the word "technology" to mean only "computers". The reason for the new development is obvious from my two comparisons: sex, Russia, and computers are where there have been the most radical revolutions.

No one speaks of a revolution in any other area of morality. No one speaks of the Property Revolution or the Bearing False Witness Revolution. In fact the rest of the natural moral law is pretty much still in place. Almost no one defends terrorism, sadism, cannibalism, insider trading, nuclear war, environmental pollution, rape, hypocrisy, torture, or murder. We are still "judgmental" about those things. But if it has anything to do with sex we dare no longer be "judgmental".

Continue reading Christian anthropology versus the Sexual Revolution

Courtyard of the Gentiles to promote dialogue between believers and nonbelievers

From RomeReports.com

Top 10 Vatican news stories from 2010

From RomeReports.com

Catholicism Series - Trailer

From Fr Robert Barron and his Word on Fire website.

Al Kresta interviews Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin

Al Kresta

 One of my favourite Catholic commentators, Al Kresta, interviews one of my favourite Catholic Apologists, Jimmy Akin, about the Early Church Fathers on Ave Maria Radio.

Archbishop Dolan’s Critics Freak Out

November 17, 2010, Catholic League (USA)

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the way some of the critics of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan are reacting to his election yesterday as the new head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

NPR is worried that Archbishop Dolan is "overtly conservative," and Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times is fretting about his "confrontational approach." Dissident Catholics are upset as well: New Ways Ministry says the vote "sends an ominous message"; Call to Action also sees his election as "ominous"; Sr. Maureen Fiedler says "we now have our very own Catholic version of the 'Tea Party' movement"; DignityUSA concludes that Dolan's election means the hierarchy is "out of step" with Catholics. Similarly, the Human Rights Campaign, a gay secular group, says the vote means the hierarchy is "out of step." Not to be outdone, the website of the Tucson Citizen accused Dolan of evincing an "arrogant" attitude in winning (it is true that he was caught smiling).

SNAP, the professional victims' group, opines that Dolan's "winning personality obscures his terrible track record on abuse." Marian Ronan of Religion Dispatches says his election is "not a good sign," and her colleague, Sarah Posner, concludes—and this really is ominous—that "the bishops are targeting families with loved ones who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender." The Internet site Lez Get Real calls Dolan "the Vatican's spin-doctor," and the website of Time has a headline which reads, "More Bad News for Obama 2012: Catholics Elect Dolan." Edgeboston.com picked up the AP piece, but chose to give it a new headline: "Catholic Bishops' Vote to Mean Harder Church Stance Against Gay Families." And atheist Susan Jacoby is sweating over the fact that Dolan will be treated by the media "as if he is the voice of all American Catholics." She needs to get used to it.

Now it is tempting to conclude that some in the asylum have escaped. More likely, it means these are not good times for those who have sought—in many cases their entire adult life—to turn the Catholic Church, and America more generally, upside down and inside out. They gave it their best shot, but they lost. Maybe it's time they retired.

Catholic League: For Religious and Civil Rights

The New Missal Translation

What's in your Bible?

Sacred, Beautiful & Universal

From Corpus Christi Watershed
(56min 19sec)

SACRED, BEAUTIFUL, & UNIVERSAL: Colloquium XIX from Corpus Christi Watershed on Vimeo.

Six Stages of a Catholic Converts Life (post conversion)

Tridentine Mass, Novus Ordo Mass

Whilst I'm not a big fan of the Tridentine Mass and some of the problems with the Novus Ordo may be overstated, you have to wonder why the opposition to the tradition Tridentine Mass is so strong. I think Michael Voris is also right in saying the meal aspect of the Mass should be secondary to the sacrificial aspect of the Mass as seems to be indicated in the Cathechism.

Another stunning clear insight from the Pope

 By Phil Lawler | September 16, 2010 – CatholicCulture.org

Pope Benedict has a disconcerting way of hitting nails directly on the head. It's disconcerting, I say, because I struggle and strain to make a point, never satisfying myself that I've made it clearly, and then along comes the Holy Father, and he pounds home the same point in a simple, clear, remark. 

For example, in writing The Faithful Departed I tried to explain that when Church leaders seek after public affirmation, they lose focus on the faith, and eventually lose public affirmation as well. To be honest, I've always had trouble summarizing that argument quickly; I have trouble boiling down the message of the book into a single paragraph.

Then today, as he met with the journalists who are accompanying him on his trip to Great Britain, the Pope made the point deftly, clearly-- and quite unexpectedly, I think-- in response to one journalist's question. The question was how the Church could be more attractive to the public. Notice how the Pope, in the very first phrase of his reply (which I emphasize below), steers the conversation off its predictable course to make a more important point:

“I would say that a Church that seeks to be particularly attractive is already on the wrong path, because the Church does not work for her own ends, she does not work to increase numbers and thus power. The Church is at the service of another: she serves, not for herself, not to be a strong body, rather she serves to make the proclamation of Jesus Christ accessible, the great truths and great forces of love, reconciling love that appeared in this figure and that always comes from the presence of Jesus Christ.”

I spent many months, and 264 pages, trying to get at that point. Pope Benedict nailed it down in one stroke with an extemporaneous comment. Disconcerting. But beautiful!

From Catholic Culture : On The News : another stunning clear insight from the Pope

ANGELUS: God always comes out to meet us

VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE (VIS)

VATICAN CITY, 12 SEP 2010 (VIS) - At midday today, before praying the Angelus with faithful gathered in the central courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castelgandolfo, Benedict XVI remarked on the readings of today's Mass and invited people to pray for his forthcoming trip to the United Kingdom.

  In today's Gospel "Jesus narrates the three 'parables of mercy'", said the Pope. "When He speaks 'of the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, of the woman who looks for the lost coin, of the father who goes to meet and embrace his prodigal son, these are no mere words: they constitute an explanation of His very being and activity'. The shepherd who finds the lost sheep is the Lord Himself Who, with the Cross, takes sinful man upon Himself in order to redeem him".

  "How can we not open our hearts to the certainty that, though sinners, we are loved by God? He never tires of coming out to meet us, He is always the first to start down the road that separates us from Him. The Book of Exodus shows how Moses, with a faithful and audacious prayer, managed to move God, so to say, from the throne of justice to the throne of mercy. Penitence is the measure of faith, thanks to which we return to Truth".

  With reference to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the Holy Father noted how "when the elder son is offended by the festive welcome shown to his brother, it is again the father who goes out to meet him. ... Only faith can transform selfishness into joy and re-establish proper relations with others and with God", he said.

  Finally, the Holy Father asked for prayers for his apostolic visit to the United Kingdom where, next Sunday, he is due to beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman. "To the Virgin Mary", he said, "whose Holy Name is celebrated in the Church today, we entrust our journey of conversion towards God".

VIS news - Holy See Press Office: ANGELUS: GOD ALWAYS COMES OUT TO MEET US

The Journey Home - Scott and Kimberly Hahn

The Journey Home program on EWTN is one of the networks best. In this episode Marcus Grodi interviews Scott and Kimberly Hahn about their conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism. The Hahn's converstion story retold in their book "Rome Sweet Home" is one of the all time favourite conversion stories.

STATISTICS FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN GREAT BRITAIN

From the Vatican Information Service (VIS) – September 2010

For the occasion of Benedict XVI's forthcoming apostolic trip to the United Kingdom, due to take place from 16 to 19 September and during which he will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, statistics concerning the Catholic Church in that country have been published. The information, updated to 31 December 2009, comes from the Central Statistical Office of the Church.

Great Britain has a surface area of 230,762 square kilometres and a population of 59,381,000 of whom 5,264,000 (8.87 percent) are Catholic. There are 32 ecclesiastical circumscriptions and 2,977 parishes. Currently there are 59 bishops, 5,225 priests, 6,497 religious, 160 lay members of secular institutes and 34,669 catechists. Minor seminarians number 2, and major seminarians 245.
Continue reading at VIS News

Married priests from the first centuries practiced celibacy

From RomeReports.com