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Apparently, St. Paul is buried there, according to scientists and as reported by FoxNews.com. Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the scientific team’s carbon dating, saying, “This seems to confirm the unanimous and uncontested tradition that they are the mortal remains of the Apostle Paul.” Benedict announced the findings at a service in the basilica to mark the end of the Vatican’s Pauline year, in honor of the apostle.
Today kicks off the “Year for Priests”. Here is the opening of the pope’s recently issued letter:
Dear Brother Priests,
On the forthcoming Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 – a day traditionally devoted to prayer for the sanctification of the clergy –, I have decided to inaugurate a “Year for Priests” in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the “dies natalis” of John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests worldwide. This Year, meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world, will conclude on the same Solemnity in 2010. The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Curé of Ars would often say. This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as “friends of Christ”, whom he has called by name, chosen and sent?
June 29 has been set as the release date for Pope Benedict XVI’s third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Love in Truth). Don’t hold your breath, though, as this encyclical has been delayed several times in the past. (I’m sure Borders and Barnes & Noble will have to be loose in their plans to hold release parties, as they did with the Harry Potter books.)
But seriously, an article in Britian’s The Catholic Herald today explains that “Benedict calls for new world economic order“. The pope stated, “As you know, my encyclical on the vast theme of economics and labour will soon be published. It will highlight what, for us Christians, are the objectives to be pursued and the values to be promoted and tirelessly defended, with the purpose of realising a truly free and human coexistence in solidarity.”
Leaders of certain Catholic colleges are “lobbying U.S. Bishops to withdraw their 2004 policy banning pro-abortion speakers,” according to today’s National Catholic Register. In the article, Cardinal Newman Society president Patrick Reilly is quoted as concluding:
It is sadly all too clear that the many secularized Catholic colleges and universities are more concerned with doing away with the rules than ending the scandals. Lobbying the bishops to back off a perfectly reasonable policy would be a shameful action by the Catholic higher education establishment, and hardly an appropriate response to Notre Dame’s betrayal of the nation’s bishops and the university’s own Catholic mission.
I just saw on Twitter that a free e-book is now available from Ascension Press to combat lies and inaccuracies in Angels & Demons:
Angels & Demons is a thinly-veiled, but brutal attack on the Catholic Faith that will again shake the faith of potentially millions of people who know little about Catholic teaching and Catholic and Western history. It is full of half-truths, historical inaccuracies, and outright lies.
Answering Angels & Demons, by Mark Shea is an electronic book provided for free to help you answer the errors contained in the book and movie. Please feel free to download this resources and share it with your friends, family and neighbors.
Just go to http://answeringangelsanddemons.com/ to get it (PDF, 23 pages).
Several Catholic colleges and universities are doing it right when it comes to selecting commencement speakers. The Cardinal Newman Society issued a news release listing a number of Catholic educational institutions that are choosing to honor individuals dedicated to promoting a Culture of Life:
“We are blessed in this country by the presence of many honorable leaders who promote the defense of innocent life in the public square,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society (CNS). “Notre Dame could learn a valuable lesson from Catholic colleges that place principle before prestige when deciding whom to honor at commencement.”
Read all about it: ‘Newman Guide’ Catholic Colleges Honoring Pro-Life Commencement Speakers
Last Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI canonized five saints: Italian Blesseds Arcangelo Tadini (1846-1912), Bernardo Tolomei (1272-1348), Gertrude Comensoli (1847-1903) and Caterina Volpicelli (1839-1894), and the Portuguese Blessed Nuno de Santa Maria Alvares Pereira (1360-1431). The Vatican lists bios, but not all have been translated to English yet. I’ll try to post them as they are available.
*Update: April 29*
I promised links to their bios. Here are three that are in English so far:
The Catholic News Agency reports:
After long months of debate and hopeful prayer, thousands of Catholics received bitter news as Gwinnett County, Georgia commissioners voted early this month to rezone land to allow a solid waste transfer station to be built in the city of Norcross, adjacent to Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Church.
…despite the obvious opposition voiced over and over by thousands of Gwinnett residents, Catholic and otherwise, the proposal was passed.
According to Father Tran, the story does not end here. He said they will use “every available resource” to fight the approval, adding that there is current discussion about bringing legal action against Gwinnett County.
Pat Chivers, communications director for the Archdiocese of Atlanta, said the Environmental Protection Agency would also be contacted, since that federal agency has to approve construction of this type of facility.
According to an article in today’s National Catholic Register, “NBC has refused to air CatholicVote.org’s new pro-life ad during its broadcast of this Sunday’s Super Bowl game.” You can view the ad here:
This is a positive and uplifting message. And it is tastefully done, without shocking photos or even use of the word “abortion.”
According to the article, an “NBC representative in Chicago told CatholicVote.org late yesterday that NBC and the NFL are not interested in advertisements involving ‘political candidates or issues.’”
Last Thursday’s passing of Father Richard John Neuhaus — the noteworthy editor of First Things and ex-Lutheran minister who became a Catholic priest — is marked by a nice article by George Weigel in Newsweek.
I enjoyed Fr. Neuhaus’ commentary on EWTN this past April when Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States. That was the first time I saw him on television, and I liked his dry wit!
Two or three years ago, on my own journey toward Catholicism, I read an article Neuhaus wrote entitled, “How I Became the Catholic I Was.” (I later learned that it was an excerpt from his book Catholic Matters.) The article is available as a PDF in the Coming Home Network’s Feb. 2003 newsletter (beginning on page 3) and as HTML on the First Things site.
He recalled the story of how “the great confessional Lutheran theologian Peter Brunner regularly said that a Lutheran who does not daily ask himself why he is not a Roman Catholic cannot know why he is a Lutheran.” Neuhaus also pointed out how Lutheranism “turned against the fulfillment of its destiny as a reforming movement within the one Church of Christ. Lutheranism in all its parts, both in this country and elsewhere, had settled for being a permanently separated Protestant denomination; or, as the case may be, several Protestant denominations.”
That hit me hard — especially as someone who was a proud member of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod since the early 1990s. The original idea of the Reformation was to work toward reform of and reconciliation with the Catholic Church, not to establish a permanently separated state. This original idea has been lost over the past 490+ years.
I cannot say that Fr. Neuhaus’ writings immediately prompted me to join the Catholic Church, but he did get the old wheels turning in my head at a much faster rate than they had in the past.
Thank you, Father Neuhaus, for all that you did in this life, and may you enter into eternal rest!
A Christian, after all, is not his own master; he puts his time at God’s disposal.
— , Epistle to Polycarp, 7
