Catholic Church

By Courtney Grogan, Catholic News Agency - Cardinal Robert Sarah said that the priesthood is going through "a deep crisis” today, and asked for prayers for all priests… “The priest -- here is the most magnificent work, the most generous gift that God has given to humanity, the most precious and unprecedented treasure that exists on earth; the Curé of Ars, St. John Mary Vianney was deeply convinced of this,” he said… “In this Eucharist we entrust the Church and all priests to the maternal goodness of the Virgin Mary, our Mother and Mother of the Church,” he prayed.

By Fr. George W. Rutler, Crisis Magazine - (Pope Francis) was clear about one thing, and he said so: he is “slightly allergic” to the use of adjectival and adverbial words such as “authentic and authentically,” and “true and truly,” as qualifiers of the word Christian. The mission of communication, he said, “is to communicate with reality, without sweetening with adjectives or adverbs.” He warned that “this culture of the adjective has entered the Church.”… The Holy Father’s heartfelt desire to persuade all Christians to rejoice in that sturdy title “Christian” without the need of qualifying adjectives like “authentic”.. has an apostolic integrity in the best light.

By Dorothy Cummings McLean, LifeSiteNews - During a visit with African Jesuits in Mozambique, Pope Francis once again accused young priests in traditional dress of harboring “moral problems” and “imbalances.”… “Clericalism is a real perversion in the Church,”… “Clericalism has a direct consequence in rigidity,” he said, returning to one of the themes of his pontificate. “Have you never seen young priests all stiff in black cassocks and hats in the shape of the planet Saturn on their heads? Behind all the rigid clericalism there are serious problems.”

By Russell Shaw, Catholic Exchange - “The plain and simple reason for our preaching and preserving the faith is because we have been told to do so. It is an act of mere obedience to him who has ‘put us in trust with the Gospel.’ Our one great concern as regards it, is to deliver it over safe….Did men feel this adequately, they would have little heart to indulge in the random speculations which at present are so familiar to their minds.”