Catholic Church

By Msgr. Charles Pope - We tend to sentimentalize the Christmas story as we think of the baby Jesus in the manger. It is not absolutely wrong to be sentimental, but we must also be prayerfully sober about how difficult that first Christmas was, and about the heroic virtue required of Mary and Joseph in order to cooperate with God in making it come to pass.

By Andreas Wailzer, LifeSiteNews - Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck’s (A German bishop) said that the Catholic Church should “widen” its understanding of the family to include every form “where people live with children,” including homosexual couples... When bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck was asked in an interview by katholisch.de if the Catholic Church needs to “widen its understanding of the family,” Overbeck replied, “It is high time that she does that.” ...

By Joe Bukuras, EWTN News - Father Frank Pavone, a well-known pro-life activist and national director of the organization Priests for Life, has been dismissed from the clerical state for “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop"... In a Dec. 13 letter to U.S. bishops obtained by CNA and confirmed by multiple sources as authentic, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, wrote that the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy issued the decision on Nov. 9, adding that there was “no possibility of appeal.”

By Russell Shaw, The Catholic Thing - A rumor is making the rounds in Rome that Pope Francis is preparing to issue an encyclical or some other form of teaching document on contraception. At this point, it’s only a rumor – it may be true, or it may not. But supposing it’s true, one naturally wonders what such a document from Francis might say... Some background is in order.