Catholic Church

By Fr. Mike Schmitz, Ascension Presents - The Karate Kid didn’t know waxing a car would teach him karate, but Miyagi knew. In a similar way the Church, in her wisdom, teaches us certain motions—kneeling at Mass, making the sign of the Cross, etcetera—so we may learn the deeper virtues that will lead us to holiness. In this video, Fr. Mike encourages us to keep going through the motions, if that’s all it feels like we’re doing at Mass, because it’s in times of desolation that our faith grows the most.

By E. Christian Brugger, EWTN - In popular parlance, scandal often is used to refer to moral outrage. For example, a good priest might say, “The Catholic faithful are being scandalized by the conduct of their leaders.” Here, he is referring to the shock, anger and feelings of betrayal suffered by those who are surprised and disgusted to learn of their leaders’ complicity in wrongdoing... But Catholic theology uses the term more precisely. Scandal is leading another to do evil by word or example.

By Christopher Thompson, National Catholic Register - The environment? Really? It would not be an understatement to say that Cardinal Blaise Cupich’s recent interview with an NBC affiliate in Chicago did not come off as well as he might have expected. Hoping to deflect some of the acrimony surrounding the latest news he’s quoted as saying, “The pope has a bigger agenda; he’s got to get on with other things [such as] talking about the environment and protecting migrants and doing the work of the church.”

By Fr. Gerald E. Murray, The Catholic Thing - Excellency, you stand at the center of a devastating and spiraling crisis in the Church triggered in large measure by your past and present behavior. In your statement published by the Archdiocese of Washington on June 20th, you incredibly maintained your innocence of the two charges of sexual molestation brought by a former minor seminarian of the Archdiocese of New York, claiming you had "absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse, and believe in [your] innocence."...