Read the full text of Blessed Pope Paul VI's Closing Messages of Vatican II in honour of his canonization taking place on October 14, 2018. ...read more

Today, Pope Francis released a new papal document - Gaudete et Exsultate: On the Call to Holiness in Today’s World. The Latin title, Rejoice and Be Glad, comes from Matthew 5:12, part of the Sermon on the Mount - Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. The Sermon on the Mount figures heavily into the document, providing a sort of 'roadmap' to holiness. Here are a few points to keep in mind as you read through the document: ...read more

The final lessons of John XXIII and Benedict XVI G.K. Chesterton once wrote: “It is of the new things that men tire… of fashions and proposals and improvements and change. It is the old things that startle and intoxicate. It is the old things that are young.” This was the paradoxical justification Chesterton gave for ...read more

“What does Christmas mean to you?” This is a common question posed during the Advent season, and one that evokes in many of us fond memories and feelings of gratitude. This week, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council, similar feelings have pervaded me. Many thoughtful and inspiring ...read more

Address of Pope Paul VI During the last general meeting of the Second Vatican Council 7 December 1965  Today we are concluding the Second Vatican Council. We bring it to a close at the fullness of its efficiency: the presence of so many of you here clearly demonstrates it; the well-ordered pattern of this assembly ...read more

This year marks 50 years since the end of the Second Vatican Council and the promulgation of several key documents that shaped the church. There is one document, not part of the official canon of Vatican II documents, that shaped the church just as much yet has been almost forgotten. It is called the Catacombs ...read more

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When the freshly named patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli, chose 37-year-old Father Loris Capovilla as his private secretary in 1953, a skeptical adviser told the cardinal that the priest looked too sickly to bear the strain of his new job. “Then he’ll die ...read more

In a recent interview with ZENIT, Salt and Light’s Sebastian Gomes reflected on the significance of Pope John’s upcoming canonization in the context of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Vatican II.  What does “the Good Pope’s” canonization mean for a generation of Catholics who came of age long after the Council closed?  Read the full ...read more

As I begin writing this,  I can say that my preparation for an early autumn 2013 profession of perpetual vows and ordination to the diaconate has officially begun, with the blessing of my religious Congregation, the Basilian Fathers. My Basilian journey, which began with my Associate year in 2007-2008, and the coming months of preparation ...read more

Near the end of last year I wrote about the attitude of openness and adaptation to the modern world which permeated the ecclesiology of John XXIII and Paul VI, and found concrete expression at Vatican II and in the creation of the permanent Synod of Bishops. (Read it here) From there we now jump forward ...read more