The Catholic Message Board

I'm far removed from what has happened but have been trying to gauge where people around the globe stand on the military ousting of Madura. In December Pope Leo urged the US not to take the route it eventually did, mentioning sovereignty and the rule of law. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/po...

I am now informed about the concept of doing some good (as one sees it) rather than doing no good. I am still skeptical whether the motivation was to perform a limited, immediate good, for its own sake, or to use the smaller good as a lever to move to a larger good. I use the word "good" ...

So if we have a Christmas truce, then in January, we go back to deporting. Symbolic gesture, but in the end the same result. I would put the gesture in the category of 'small mercies'. In her book Small Mercies: Glimpses of God in Everyday Life, Nancy Sullivan writes... " Each time we experien...

anawim wrote: ↑Thu Dec 25, 2025 7:09 pm I went to midnight Mass once in my, just to see what all the fuss was about. Never. Again. I like my

I'm going to throw out my guess as to the missing word... you went to mindnight Mass once in your 'pajamas'?

Merry Christmas all.

I think it comes from a higher calling for human beings to be able to want even temporary amnesty. Think of the famous Christmas truce between German troops and the Allies during WWI. Also the Jewish concept of a Jubilee year every 50 years where debts are forgiven, slaves freed etc. Then life began...

Seeking to overturn the legal status quo has a long tradition not just in the Christian Church but also for the Jews and Greek and Roman pagan religious before them. Ie. Calling for freeing of slaves, freeing of prisoners and reductions of punishment, debt forgiveness, protection for places of sanct...

I had first hand experience of this when my first child was stillborn in 1989. My uncle who is/was a very holy Priest (he is 91 and has dementia now), assured me that the Sacraments are for the living and that my child is in heaven. As anawim wrote, it is through God's mercy that we can hold these t...

DW had been interested in this topic and was somewhat familiar with it. Her observation was that, in public schools, phone storage might work in the middle demographic, but would be difficult to implement in the upper and lower demographic. The upper and lower demographic would resist a barrier bet...

Two of the parishes I go to for weekday Masses have big Indian congregations and there is a special kind of holiness present among these people in my opinion. Evangelisation seems to be more powerful in the Global South today than in traditional Western countries. If you have a spare 13 minutes, thi...

One of the aspects I'm interested in is how enforceable it turns out to be. They will be using AI to detect subtle signs of an underage user which will test the capability of AI. As for parents, most have less practical knowledge of the internet than their teenage kids so are grateful to the State f...

So from tomorrow, under 16s will be banned from using the worst social media platforms. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-under-16-social-media-ban-explained/4j58qo83f The federal government's long-awaited social media ban for children under 16 is on the verge of taking effect. The restr...

Thankyou, Fr. Fr Sean loves them as well. He doesn't let anyone get away with timid responses to renewing our baptismal vows. The parents and godparents have to do it with gusto or he won't go on.

Thankyou, Zeno. The last few years have been a blessed trajectory.

And today our little cherub, Dominic Francis, became a member of Christs Church.

The thing that gets me here is "More than 500 years." What event could this possibly be referring to? Before the 19th century, Popes and British monarchs never met in person, and monarchs didn't travel to visit the Pope, or vice versa. I'm pretty sure this is the first time something like...

I had intended to communicate that, if the Bishops felt the need to take a stand, then that stand should be to enforce immigration law while not treating those being processed within its bounds inhumanely. Which really doesn't seem to be a problem. Supporting consequences of illegal immigration suc...

This meeting is definitely not a personal one for the King and Queen, but in the interest of ecumenism. The King, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England will participate in an ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel that will focus on the themes of Christian unity and care for creation — ...

What does this have to do with Vatican II, one wonders. UNITATIS REDINTEGRATIO 1. The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council. Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only. However, many Christian communions present themselv...

Perhaps the Bishops could address immigration enforcement by heartily endorsing it ... while advocating humane treatment of the deportees. But it comes down to having the attitude of Christ towards people. When Jesus came across the adulterous woman it wasn't to judge her but to recognise her digni...

An amazing fruit of Vatican II ! I've always thought Jesus must be so pained by the division in the Church.