Pope Francis left his scripted remarks and spoke “spontaneously” to the youth of Singapore on Friday, September 13, 2024. The Holy Father made a distinction between a courageous person who seeks the truth as a “critical” thinker and the critic with “endless words” who offers “destructive criticism.” He asked them this question, “Do you have ..read more

Anne Tropeano claims that she is Father Anne and that she was ordained a Catholic priest in 2021. But this is not true. Her act of defiance was a formal disassociation from the Catholic Church. Not only was she excommunicated, but she also became a Protestant minister. The fact remains, that while such was true ..read more

I recently responded to a query from a young man preparing for reception into the Catholic Church. He comes from an Evangelical background and has yet to tell his family. Given that his baptism is recognized by the Catholic Church, I urged him to find a priest to serve as his spiritual director and confessor ..read more

The Holy Father introduced the Angelus on August 11, 2024, to 12,000 pilgrims in Saint Peter’s Square with a few words about John 6:41-51 taken from the day’s Mass. The Pope explained that those who knew Christ questioned how he could say that he came down from heaven. It should be obvious that those who ..read more

This will likely be the award winning photograph of the year. Partisan politics aside, if this is possible any more, it depicts an iconic moment in history. Hollywood could not have crafted the image better . . . blood stained face, fist in the air, and the flag waving in the background. Providence or chance I would not say. But it speaks volumes. Will it change the man? Authorities are saying, had he not turned his head to look at the screen, the bullet would have entered his eye. Death does not get much closer than this. It is also a time to examine our hearts. Can we disagree with ideas wi ..read more

Many years ago, I precipitated the ire of several activist homosexuals with criticism of their movement toward normalization and the enabling from politicians who made claim to the Catholic label, like the late Senator Ted Kennedy. My old blog was barraged by negative critics, and I was reported to the archdiocese for hate-speech. However, in truth I was merely doing what any pastor of souls should do, echoing the truths of Christ’s Church. There have been a notable number of websites labeled as hate sights for quoting the Bible, notably Leviticus 18:22: “You shall not lie with a male as with ..read more

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Most believers take the Bible or whatever their religious text may be as absolute truth. This is a matter of faith, something that atheists often have a hard time understanding or relating to.  Atheists often point out the unknowable nature of an all powerful creator or concept of God or many gods. Without scientific proof, they find it illogical to believe so strongly in something that plays such an important role.” Critics of Scripture often play fast and loose with how Christian believers regard and use the Bible.&nb ..read more

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Religion provides guidance for many people. It set laws and rules for ancient societies to abide by. And many religious people feel these laws are necessary to dictate what is right and wrong for humankind.  Many atheists feel that morality is innate and modern society’s laws are sufficient to govern mankind.” The Church had hoped that a healthy universal respect for natural law would bring consensus and cooperation in forming a better and moral society.  However, the current clash in values is readily interpreted ..read more

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “From biblical times to modern day, it’s true that many wars have been fought in the name of religion. From the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades, to modern religious extremists and terror attacks, many have suffered. However, most religious people don’t support going to war with people who have different beliefs. Those who have been mislead to resort to violence fail to see the peaceful messages that are present in virtually all religious texts. Some atheists feel that the world would be more peaceful without the impact o ..read more

Krystal Smith poses this question at STAPLER CONFESSIONS and states: “Religious people typically accept their holy text as the word of God, verbatim. This can cause friction with modern concepts of personal freedom and liberties that didn’t exist in biblical times. Some atheists criticize the archaic laws and customs of the Bible, and insist that it’s outdated and shouldn’t be followed by modern people.” First, the Bible is not a morality manual. That which is taught must be understood in a contextual way and not quoted as isolated proof texts. Second, everything taught in the Old Testament mu ..read more