3.21.2017
Excavation of an early 17th Century grave has revealed a body buried with its hands in prayer.
CHR Comment: Spanish colonists tried to gain power but ultimately failed.
Source: Taiwan: Earliest Catholic grave in Asia-Pacific unearthed
Tag: Roman Catholicism
Pope Francis open to allowing married priests in Catholic Church
3.10.2017
The pontiff suggests easing the rules could address a shortage of priests in some areas.
CHR Comment: The article gives an example of a Brazilian diocese where there are 700,000 Catholics served by only 27 priests.
Source: Pope Francis open to allowing married priests in Catholic Church
Archbishop Chaput
3.6.2017
Recent, ugly nonsense about those who supposedly cannot refrain from sinful sexual relations is pastoral cruelty disguised as kindness. The voice of Archbishop Chaput, by contrast, strikes a welcome and profound note of clarity and true compassion.
CHR Comment: A brief essay concerning the Archbishop’s recent book, Strangers in a Strange Land, reflecting also on the importance of this bishop.
Source: A Book for Me and All Protestants to Read | Carl R. Trueman | First Things
Possible 16th Century Burials
1.13.2017
Nuestra Señora de los Remedios
CHR Comment: The graves were found at the location of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, the sixteenth century church.
Source: Discovery of ancient human remains prompt excavation prior to water line construction | WJAX-TV
Video of kidnapped priest raises hopes, concerns
An appeal by a Catholic priest kidnapped in Yemen by Islamic extremists last March surfaced over the holidays.
Tupac’s ‘Hail Mary’
“I ain’t a killer but don’t push me, revenge is like the sweetest joy,” certainly isn’t a Sunday school staple.
CHR Comment: For a prayer booklet in Sri Lanka, the compiler picked up a rapper’s revision of a traditional Catholic devotional poem. This illustrates the dangers of cut and paste!
Source: Church Accidentally Prints the Lyrics to Tupac’s ‘Hail Mary’ Instead of the Prayer | Mental Floss
Pope: Resistance to Vatican reform inspired by devil
It marked the third consecutive year that the pope has slammed the highest levels of the Catholic Church’s administration in his annual holiday greeting at the Vatican.
CHR Comment: The pope’s comments perhaps illustrate his rising frustration as he attempts reforms. Conservative Catholics are not accepting Francis’s modernism; liberal Catholics are waiting for more substantial changes and not receiving them.
Source: Pope: Resistance to Vatican reform inspired by devil
Suicide among Irish Priests
From the prosperous-appearing church of 1979 to the disappearing church of 2016, the Irish experience elicits responses on countless grounds.
CHR Comment: Martin Marty describes the decline of Irish Catholicism, how older Irish priests suffer from isolation and feelings of irrelevance in their changing nation.
Pope celebrates his birthday with the homeless
Pope Francis celebrated an active if low-key 80th birthday on Saturday, sharing breakfast with eight homeless people before celebrating Mass with cardinals as greetings flowed in from around the world.
Opus Dei Faces Transition After Leader’s Death
Bishop Javier Echevarría, who served as a personal secretary to Opus Dei’s founder for more than 20 years, was the last link to the first generation of Opus Dei’s leadership. He died Monday at age 84.
Source: Powerful Roman Catholic Group Opus Dei Faces Transition After Leader’s Death : The Two-Way : NPR
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