Jeanie Hannaman

By Dr. John M. Haas, Catholic Exchange - The Catholic Church is facing a growing crisis: a steep decline in seminarians and an aging priesthood threaten the ability to serve parishes and Catholics nationwide. In response, the International Institute of Culture (IIC), a Philadelphia-based Catholic non-profit, has launched ThankAPriest.com, an initiative to restore the perception of the priesthood’s true dignity by sharing inspiring stories of priests who have made a profound impact in people’s lives.

By Joseph Pronechenm, National Catholic Register - A depiction of Christ, wearing white, with his hand raised in blessing... Two rays emanate from Christ’s heart: one pale and one red... The pale one represents water for baptism; the red represents Jesus’ Blood for the Eucharist... This image — emblazoned with “Jesus, I Trust in You” — is known the world over as the Divine Mercy image that was entrusted to Polish nun Sister (now St.) Faustina Kowalska in the 1930s.

By Simon Caldwell, The Conservative Woman - THE outpouring of grief following the death of Pope Francis was like a wall of noise, a practically uninterrupted blanket of praise, a seamless garment of tribute. Even his enemies fought to temper their public comments, undoubtedly conscious of the enduring Latin injunction de mortuis nil nisi bonum, that one must not speak ill of the dead... It was only in private conversations that one could truly gauge the true sentiments of rank-and-file Catholics. One devout woman, orthodox but very much in the mainstream of the Church, confided to me that when she heard of the death of Francis on Easter Monday, ‘I couldn’t help but weep with immense relief – thanking the Lord that it was finally over’.

By John M. Grondelski, The Catholic Thing - Expect the word “reform” to be thrown around frequently during the current interregnum in the Church.  Looking backwards, there will be debates about what reforms were expected of Pope Francis, what he delivered or failed to deliver, and whether those acts or omissions were, in fact, reforms.  Looking forward, the argument will be over what “reforms” to expect from the next pope... Part of the “reform” debate will center around the Second Vatican Council and its ongoing implementation.