Catholic Church

By Gavin Ashenden, The Stream - There’s a new Vatican document which asserts that human beings, by their very nature, have something called “infinite dignity.” A conversation at the Vatican press conference when Dignitas Infinita was launched offered some helpful insights into the theological presuppositions held by its authors... Vatican correspondent Diane Montagna asked lead author Cardinal Fernandez: “If man has infinite dignity how can he be condemned to the eternal suffering of Hell?”...

By Scott Maucione, WYPR News - The Baltimore Archdiocese is planning to close about two-thirds of its churches in the city and county as the organization continues to be embroiled in bankruptcy proceedings regarding restitution for victims of child sexual assault... The plan would shutter 40 of the archdiocese’s 61 parishes, consolidating the congregations and closing some of the most historic churches in the area, leaving 21 parishes and 26 worship sites.

By The Catholic Herald - Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah has accused Western bishops of worldliness and of succumbing to the temptation of “practical atheism” as they lose faith in the teachings of the Catholic Church... The former prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said that so many bishops desired to be “loved by the world” that they have forgotten that Christianity calls them to be “signs of contradiction”.

By Msgr. Charles Pope - The first reading from Sunday’s Mass features an excerpt from a sermon by St. Peter. The contents of the sermon are very similar to others recorded in the Acts of the Apostles by Saints Paul and Stephen. What is interesting is that these ancient sermons break almost every rule (written and unwritten) of modern preaching! Consider the clip from yesterday and not the areas highlighted in red: Peter said to the people: Peter said to the people: “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus ....