An old departed friend of Saint Benedict Center is happily remembered on the web site of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. Father Paul Wickens, who championed the innocence of children by combating compulsory “sex education” in Catholic schools, was the founder of Saint Anthony’s Chapel in West Orange, New Jersey. The chapel has recently been elevated to the status of a diocesan-approved public oratory by Archbishop John J. Myers, of Newark. Read More »

Sin is destructive because it is in opposition to the will of the Creator who is all Good. No Catholic can claim ignorance of the fact that the use of artificial contraceptives is a mortal sin. I should say “no one at all” can claim ignorance of the evil of contraception because it is against the natural law. Tamper with the nature law and there will be results. What the Vatican is saying in this latest finding has been admitted by many unbiased eco-scientists.  Read this alarming article.

Anne Hendershott has an article in the on-line Wall Street Journal about Caroline Kennedy and the Kennedy family politicians’ predilection for abortion. She writes of the 1964 meeting at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass., the colloquium wherein the Kennedy politicos were coached on the Pharisaical sophistries involved in being pro-abortion as a politician while remaining a faithful Catholic. The lineup of theologians present would indicate that the thing was front-loaded to achieve the desired result (rather like hunting for a confessor whose soft on one’s favorite vice, perhaps because it happens to be his own: “but Father so-and-so said it was OK!”). Writes Hendershot: Read More »

For a Patriot fan, like myself, it was good to see that Miami lost yesterday; and for a Catholic editor, like myself, it was good to see that the Baltimore Ravens, who won a wild card playoff berth, was the team that defeated them.  Read More »

In an inspiring article in his diocesan weekly, the outspoken cardinal expressed no optimism as far as the Communist government in China granting religious freedom.  He stressed that the hope of the Chinese faithful lies in suffering and prayer, with the martyrs, like St. Stephen, as a model of courage.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - The bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, has asked all of the (official) bishops of China to be courageous, and not slip into compromises with the regime.

In an article in the January 4 edition of the diocesan weekly Gong Jiaobao, he urges Chinese bishops and priests to have the virtues of Saint Stephen, the first martyr, and not to submit constantly to directions of the state that are contrary to the faith: “to suffer for the faith will eventually bring victory, even if today everything seems lost.” Read more here.

Here, in Purcellville, Virginia, was a priest who exemplified the good pastor.  Those who knew him were surely blessed. Those who knew him have an advocate whom they can approach now at any time.  May the soul of Father Michael Kelly rest in peace.  Read More »

This article may serve as a helpful introduction for traditional-rite newcomers. Father Kenneth Myers, a priest ordained for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1980, on the traditional Mass. The perspective is a pastoral one.

Read the article at 4marks.com.

The Christian Order web site published this article by Joel McDurmon, who is, apparently, a sola-scriptura Protestant. Christian Order begs off the “evangelical” theology, but endorses the meat of the article.

President-elect Obama ardently sought the Evangelical and “born again” vote. This pre-election investigation by “American Vision” examines his posturing inside Evangelical communities and the Protestant leaders who brought him in. An excellent case-study of how the political Left is making common cause with secularised “Christians” to further the Liberal agenda, it confirms the insidious power of materialistic “spirituality” which now substitutes for supernatural religion everywhere (including swathes of the Catholic Church, as the disgraceful 54% Catholic vote for Mr Obama reveals).

Hundreds of thousands is a wide approximation.  I remember last year at a similar rally in Madrid the same figure was given.  Well, whether it was two hundred or nine hundred thousand, that’s a huge gathering. Viva la santa fe in Espana! There was also an outdoor Mass offered, no doubt, in reparation for the socialist government’s anti-life, anti-family policies promoting moral corruption. Read More »

For the first time in seven years many thousands of pilgrims were free to come to Bethlehem without fear, and without restrictions. Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza, however, do not have such freedom, as the Israeli occupation continues to oppress them with inhuman restraints.

Zenit reports: BETHLEHEM, DEC. 24, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The city where Jesus was born recovered some Christmas joy this year, rebounding from seven seasons when few pilgrims arrived to celebrate Christmas there. Read more here.