www1000.newadvent.orgNEW ADVENT: Home

Home Encyclopedia Summa Fathers Bible Library A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Head of Vatican finances: No default but ‘difficult years’ are ahead Analysis: Could curial politics stop a Vatican finance trial? Viganò just exposed the private data of 30,000 people who signed his petition. If you’re among them, change passwords and take appropriate security measures... Here’s what it takes to order KFC in Gaza... Is it sinful for Catholic parishes to accept donations from a Masonic lodge? E. Christian Brugger Can a local parish solicit or accept stipends for Masses from a Masonic lodge? The short answer is sometimes. Permit me to explain. Since the early 18th century, the Catholic Church has consistently prohibited Catholics from membership in the Masons. This was because Freemasonry used symbols and held rituals that the Church judged to be at odds with Catholic faith and practice. 9 things to know and share about Our Lady of Fatima... Jimmy Akin A young shepherd girl, Lucia dos Santos, said that she experienced supernatural visitations as early as 1915, two years before the famous appearances of the Virgin Mary. In 1917, she and two of her cousins, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, were working as shepherds tending their families’ flocks. On May 13, 1917, the three children saw an apparition of Our Lady. She told them, among other things, that she would return once a month for six months. At Our Lady’s third appearance, on July 13, Lucia was shown the secret of Fatima. She reportedly turned pale and cried out with fear, calling Our Lady by name. There was a thunderclap, and the vision ended. As communities open up again, an immunologist explains what’s safer than people think, and what you should avoid... Cherish your spouse in your children... John Cuddeback This stunningly powerful goodbye between spouses says so much. A son, it says, was ‘given’ to a couple by the love they bore one another. Love between spouses is already itself a gift. That we have one another and love another is an amazing gift that we each receive and give. And then, sometimes hard upon the heels of this love, sometimes not, can come this further gift–a person. Imagine: a person as a gift from our love! Again, a gift we receive, and also give. On John Paul II’s centenary... George Weigel As the world and the Church mark the centenary of the birth of Pope St. John Paul II on May 18, a kaleidoscope of memories will shape my prayer and reflection that day. John Paul II at his dinner table, insatiably curious and full of humor; John Paul II groaning in prayer before the altar in the chapel of the papal apartment; John Paul II laughing at me from the Popemobile as I trudged along a dusty road outside Camagüey, Cuba... How do we “remain” with the Lord? The Bible distinguishes 4 ways... Msgr. Charles Pope In today’s short Gospel, the word “remain” occurs six times. Do you get the point? Remain! The Greek word μείνατε is the plural imperative of the verb meno, meaning to abide. To abide means to remain habitually or to stay somewhere. It speaks of stability and persistence. I prefer “abide” as a translation because it suggests staying put. One can “remain” in a place for an hour and then leave, but abiding has a more ongoing sense... Augustine Institute publishes major new Catholic Bible... Wednesday is the 39th anniversary of John Paul II’s assassination attempt... Quick Hits: More Vatican financial woes; and when will churches reopen? Phil Lawler Imagine that you make regular annual donations to a large non-profit institution: a university, let’s say. The university has a large endowment, managed by professionals who are authorized to invest the funds. But you learn that another office at the university, with access to large sums, has been quietly managing its own portfolio, without official authorization. Do you begin to feel uneasy? Examining the role of Catholic bishops in the 2020 U.S. presidential race... Clemente Lisi You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. It’s like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. No good deed goes unpunished. These are three clichés that we can all relate to. Life is made up of a series of decisions. As Americans prepare to decide who will be their next president this November, the Catholic hierarchy finds itself in a no-win situation. Stay strong and Viva Cristo Rey! Historian John Rao explains why we shouldn’t let a pandemic turn into pandemonium... In search of Father Damien... Pope Francis appoints Duluth priest as next Bishop of Rapid City... Murder is murder and bigotry is bigotry — even if euphemisms, “whataboutism” and settled political narratives let people pretend otherwise... SUBSCRIBE! Enter your email address: New Advent is edited by Kevin Knight (webmaster newadvent.org) Fatima, Pope St. John Paul II and God’s providence... Fr. Raymond de Souza Every shrine — from the first ones set up by patriarch Abraham on his journeys to the Marian sanctuaries today — is linked to history. What happened here, to make this a holy place? How did God act that makes this place one of privileged encounter with the workings of Providence? No shrine, save for those in the Holy Land, is more linked with the churnings of history than that of Our Lady of Fatima. The “short 20th century” is usually dated from the October Revolution of 1917, which brought the Bolsheviks to power in Moscow. It concluded with the dissolution of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991. One might then see in the 1917 apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, a preparation for the bloodiest of centuries. And the link between Fatima and Pope St. John Paul II is historical, too, for no figure in history was more consequential to the peaceful end of the totalitarian century than the Polish pope. Down the barrel of a $158 million gun, Vatican reform is coming ... but what kind? John Allen According to an internal Vatican analysis recently presented to Pope Francis for a meeting with his department heads, declines in revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic will cause the Vatican’s annual deficit to balloon somewhere between 30 and 175 percent, depending on which of three scenarios, ranging from best to worst case, is realized. Under the worst-case scenario, which assumes shortfalls between 50 and 80 percent... SPACEX made a fun International Space Station docking simulator. Go here to test your skills... The visions at Fatima and the Russian Revolution... Thomas Craughwell “Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated.” Of all the messages Our Lady gave to the three child-visionaries of Fatima — Lucia dos Santos, 10 years old, and her cousins, 9-year-old Francisco and 7-year-old Jacinta Marto... Eternal salvation, not material security, is the essential work of the Church... Scott Hahn I’m grateful I’m not a bishop. On their shoulders, they carry the weight of thousands of souls, and, at times, that responsibility must feel crushing. These are such times. Over the past two months, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, our bishops have been forced to make decisions that affect the physical, as well as the spiritual lives of Catholics. Those decisions — to close churches and limit or cease the celebration of most sacraments — are decisions no bishop wants to make. They aren’t decisions I’d want to make. And I can only imagine how difficult this has been for them. 2 ways to make a paper airplane that will go really far... It’s not a sin to laugh, knowing that the coronavirus will not laugh last... Sean Fitzpatrick COVID-19 will most likely prove one of those demarcating events in history that will be prefixed with “pre” and “post.” Until then, these are without doubt days of blind trust. No one is quite sure what is going on, but doubt is not a popular public disposition. With sorrow for those who have suffe...