Jeanie Hannaman

September 23, 2019

Spiritual Warfare Lessons from St. Padre Pio, by Kathleen Beckman

By Kathleen Beckman, Catholic Exchange - Following the quote (by St. Padre Pio), I attempt to draw forth a practical lesson…. “I am in the hands of the devil who is trying to snatch me from the arms of Jesus. Dear God! What a war he is waging against me! There are moments in which I am on the point of losing my reason through the continual violence I must do myself. How many tears and groans, dear Father, I send up to heaven in order to be set free. But no matter, I will never tire of praying to Jesus.”

September 23, 2019

Trump’s Focus on Religious Freedom at UN Should Lead the Way, by Emilie Kao/Joel Griffith

By Emilie Kao and Joel Griffith, The Stream - The U. N. will host its annual gathering in New York this week. But amid all the hubbub, President Donald Trump is setting aside time to speak on a pressing issue: religious freedom and persecution around the world… The president will keynote an event Monday called the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom. This is exactly the right issue to focus on at the U.N… Today, more than 80% of the world’s population lives under serious restrictions of religious freedom, according to the Pew Research Center. In places like Iran, Burma, and the Chinese province of Xinjiang, religious minorities like Christians, Rohingya Muslims, and Uighur Muslims face threats to their very existence.

September 23, 2019

True Synodality: A Missing Ingredient in Renewal?

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture - But despite its name, the Synod of Bishops does not quite capture the importance of synodality to the guidance and renewal of the local churches. That aspect has been left to episcopal conferences. But episcopal conferences have become a kind of permanent, bureaucratized synodality which frequently defeats the whole concept. As many have observed, episcopal conferences tend too often to diminish what it means to be a bishop in one’s own diocese… We must make no mistake about this: Synodality, for its effectiveness, depends on bishops fully understanding what it means to be bishops.

September 23, 2019

Fr. George W. Rutler: How to Write Your Own Encyclical

By Fr. George W. Rutler, Crisis Magazine - This past summer, what is now called the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family was “reconstituted” with an abruptness and thoroughness that scandalized over forty international scholars, who objected to the firing of several distinguished professors. It was a real purge… The Institute retains the name “John Paul II,” but that only serves now as an ironic reminder that it has distanced itself from the theology, philosophy, and prophetic vision of that pontiff.