Brother Rafael found sanctity in everyday life. By Carmen Elena Villa ROME (Zenit.org) - A Cistercian monk proposed by Pope John Paul II as a model for youth is set to be canonised this October. Blessed María Rafael Arnaiz Baron, known as Brother Rafael, will be recognised as a saint along with four others who will be canonised on October 11. He is the youngest of the group,...

Vocation includes standing up for Catholic truths says a bishop who is taking on the AFL. Bishop Les Tomlinson. By Anthony Barich Melbourne Bishop Les Tomlinson has set himself in opposition to powerful AFL clubs by affirming that the Catholic Church does not want games to be played on Good Friday. Victorian AFL clubs Carlton, Collingwood, Geelong and Hawthorn have in th...

Laicisation of former spiritual director of Medjugorje seers is not a judgment on the famous pilgrimage site: Superior.   Vicka Ivankovic, who first reported apparitions from the Blessed Virgin Mary in Medjugorje in 1981, is seen in the village of Medjugorje, in what was then Yugoslavia. Photo: CNS.   By Jesús Colina   VATICAN CITY (Ze...

Franciscans get a pulse of the Church hearing confessions in St Peter’s, Pope says greater feelings of guilt point to increased need for confession. A priest hears the confession of a nun during a penance service led by Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican last year. Photo: CNS/Tony Gentile, Reuters. By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Each...

Promotion work for priests and laity to boost vocations culture in Adelaide. By Anthony Barich The Archdiocese of Adelaide aims to promote the priesthood and the permanent diaconate within a new “culture of vocations” to save itself from an impending lack of priests. A number of parishes in the archdiocese have already merged, and the concept of promoting a vocations c...

University President speaks on Divine Providence.   Fr David O’Connell, president of The Catholic University of America, says he first felt the call to the priesthood through the inspiration of the priest who ministered to his dying grandmother. Photo: CNS/Gregory A Shemitz, Long Island Catholic.   By Fr David M O’Connell, CM WASHINGTON,...

Take a look at who you are, Pope tells priests; and reflects on fundamentals of identity and mission. VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org) - Priests need to take a good look at their identity, says Benedict XVI, and he offered the example of St John Vianney and the Year for Priests as an opportunity for this examination. The Pope took up again on July 1 during the general audience the theme ...

‘The Priesthood Is a Pilgrimage and Privilege’ says Canadian priest, Bishop Frederick Henry.   Bishop of Calgary, Frederick Henry.   By Bishop Frederick Henry One of the great joys of my youth was to be an altar server. I was so taken by the Eucharist that I used to pretend to say Mass in my bedroom with my younger brothers acting as my alta...

To a self-centred society, the priesthood is anathema. Three prominent Australian priests - Fr Anthony Percy, Fr Thai Vu and Fr John O'Reilly - beg to differ.   Fr Thai Vu, Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Perth.   Fr Thai Vu Eighteen years ago, a Vietnamese teen, Thai Vu, was sitting alone in a Cambodian prison, aged 13. Today he has a lov...

Yet another Greens-inspired Bill puts Catholic health and aged care under threat.   Archbishop Adrian Doyle.   By Anthony Barich THE Greens’ Dying With Dignity Bill will “greatly impact” on the provision of the Catholic Church’s health and aged care services if the Bill currently before Tasmanian Parliament passes, Hobart Arch...