MONDAY EDITION

Pope Francis Arrives in Abu Dhabi for Historic Visit

The Holy Father said the Feb. 3-5 apostolic voyage, which includes an interreligious gathering & large open-air Mass, will be ‘short’ but ‘important.’ ☩ Edward Pentin of National Catholic Register

Underground Catholic Churches Forced to the Catacombs

Reminiscent of early Christians, Chinese Catholics must move in secret & meet in out-of-the-way places, while priests face arrest if caught. ☩ Yang Xiangwen of Bitter Winter

The duties of seven Chinese bishops received into full communion

Holy See and People’s Republic of China Signed Provisional Agreement in September 2018 ☩ L’Osservatore Romano via Zenit

The Conversion of America Through the Eucharist

The soul of America is Christianity. Christianity is the principle of our national life. As our nation becomes increasingly de-christianized, it loses more & more of its source of vitality. Unless the moral disease is cured, America as the nation we still call the United States, will disappear. ☩ Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., of Roman Catholic Man

Vatican magazine condemns clerical abuse of nuns

The Catholic Church has been too slow coming to terms with the sexual abuse of women – particularly women religious – by priests, the editor of the Vatican newspaper’s women’s magazine has said. ☩ Cindy Wooden of Catholic Herald

The Transformation of the “Eastern Lung”

Though almost no one in the West has taken notice, there has been a recent development important for all of global Christianity. A new Autocephalous Church of Ukraine was created during the Kyiv Orthodox Church Synod on November 15, 2018 – a move that has been welcomed by the Ukrainian Catholic Church. ☩ Myroslav Marynovych of The Catholic Thing

Bishop Walter Hurley of Saginaw Removes Priest For Attempting To Restore Tradition At His Parish

Bishop Walter Hurley, the apostolic administrator of Saginaw, has relieved a priest from his assignment at a parish in Bay City, Michigan. This priest’s crime? Attempting to restore some tradition to the liturgy in an attempt to reinvigorate his rapidly dying parish. ☩ uCatholic

A Canonical Look at Fr. Pokorsky’s Idea of "Restricted Donations"

Fr. Jerry Pokorsky has an interesting essay over at CatholicCulture wherein he suggests “restricted donations” as a mechanism by which Catholic laity might influence pastors, and to some extent bishops, toward the good. ☩ Edward N. Peters, J.C.D. J.D., of In the Light of the Law

Is The Bible Reliable?

I often hear from skeptics & atheists on my channel who say that there’s no evidence for the things that Christians believe about Jesus. As soon as they are presented with the volumes of written material about the life & miracles of Jesus, including those of the New Testament, the immediate response is that those sources are inadmissible because they are written by Christians & this makes them biased &, therefore, unreliable. The first problem with this objection is that it doesn’t follow. Just because someone believes the things that they’ve recorded, doesn’t mean that they aren’t telling the truth. In fact, that’s a pretty strange objection. ☩ uCatholic

Pope Francis Outlines Key Priorities for February Sex-Abuse Summit

Holy Father said he wants world’s bishops to receive a ‘catechesis’ on the suffering of abuse survivors, understand better the urgent reality of combating sexual abuse. ☩ Courtney Grogan of Catholic News Agency via National Catholic Register

Radical Feminists Join Conservatives to Fight Trans Cult

Julia Beck was booted from the Baltimore LGBTQ Commission because she referred to a male rapist as male even though he says he’s female. They placed this male rapist in a woman’s prison where he proceeded to rape more women. Beck is both a lesbian & a self-confessed “radical feminist” who told her story on an amazing panel at the Heritage Foundation this week. . . ☩ Austin Ruse of Crisis Magazine

Across Midwest, deep freeze closes diocesan offices, Catholic schools

A broad swath of the Midwest experienced a deep freeze during the last days of January with historic low temperatures impacting daily routines. . . ☩ Carol Zimmerman of Catholic News Service via Crux

Is the Hierarchy Really Serious About the Abuse Crisis?

. . .the Church’s public witness has been badly damaged and is likely to suffer further damage. The scandals will certainly affect the credibility of Catholic teachers and clergy when they teach about sexual ethics. But because the scandals also involve lying, cover-ups, cowardice, financial fraud, cronyism, abuse of power, and possible blackmail, they will result in a general loss of confidence in the Church’s authority to speak on any moral matter. ☩ William Kilpatrick, Ph.D., of Crisis Magazine

10 Ways Envy Can Hurt, & 11 Ways Not to Let it

Envy hardly feels like a choice. It is an unwelcome, dark feeling that appears, all at once, as if it was there all along, when something wonderful happens. But not to you. It brings sadness that becomes envy if allowed to grow into anger & even hatred at the person who has the wonderful thing. ☩ Patti Maguire Armstrong of National Catholic Register

Lust, Lust, Lust, & Bishops

☩ Fr. John Hunwicke of Fr Hunwicke's Mutual Enrichment

3 Keys to Credibility at the Upcoming Sex Abuse Summit

☩ Msgr. Charles Pope of National Catholic Register

Pope Francis misses the mark in focusing on clericalism & synodality

☩ Christopher R. Altieri of The Catholic World Report

Socialism in America?

☩ Howard Kainz of Catholic Stand

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