BLOG: Matthew Harrison
With the launch of the Vatican news site — news.va — earlier this week we had the first tweeting Pope. [singlepic id=37 w=240 float=right]But, the Holy Father isn’t the first Bishop to tweet. And one who is busy in the Twitter universe is the Archdiocese of Quebec’s Archbishop Gérald Cyprien Lacroix. (follow him here) Archbishop ...read more
This year, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul brought three reasons to celebrate. The most obvious, is of course the fact that it’s a solemnity honouring two of the Church’s pillars. On one hand we have St. Peter, and his beautiful profession of faith: “Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of ...read more
Archbishop Gérald Lacroix will be one of 40 Archbishops from around the world to receive the pallium on Wednesday. [singlepic id=24 h=200 float=right]Every year in Rome at Mass on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Benedict XVI imposes the pallium on Metropolitan Archbishops who have been named in the past year. To impose ...read more
What is the precise significance of today’s Solemnity, of the Body and Blood of Christ? The answer is given to us in the fundamental actions of this celebration we are carrying out: first of all we gather around the altar of the Lord, to be together in his presence; secondly, there will be the procession, ...read more
A martyr from the Dachau concentration camp has been beatified — and Pope Benedict has entrusted to him, and all the martyrs of concentration camps, the cause for peace. Speaking at his Sunday Angelus, the Holy Father gave thanks for the “heroic witness” of Fr. Alois Andritzki. The 28-year old priest was accused by the ...read more
We’ve reached the end of the fourth season of Lectio Divina. In June’s Lectio Divina, Archbishop Thomas Collins concludes his reflection on the Letter of St. James meditating on James 4:11-5:20. At one point the Archbishop highlights patience. Not the kind of patience we think of when being cut off in traffic or waiting in ...read more
Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini has been called the most important document on the Bible in 45 years. The Exhortation is the result of the October 2008 General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, which was dedicated to “The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church.” ...read more
The Vatican gave a status report on the completed first phase of the visitation of Irish church institutions in the wake of the sex abuse scandal. Rome bureau chief John Thavis reports. ...read more
This weekend, Pope Benedict XVI will make his first trip to Croatia as the successor of Peter. However, as Holy See Press Office director Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, points out, it’s not his first visit to the strongly Catholic country. The Vatican spokesman offered an editorial previewing the trip on the Vatican Television program Octava ...read more
Oh May, how we hardly knew you! Thirty one days zipped by and we are already entering into the halfway point of the year. In May, we paid particular attention to our Blessed Mother, in June we traditionally contemplate the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Last year, on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, Pope Benedict ...read more