If precedent is any guide, many good Catholic lay people are waiting to hear what their diocesan bishops and/or local pastors have to say about the new evangelization before they decide whether it's something for them to get involved in. That's the typical reaction of the clericalist mindset to something new in the Church: "What [...]

And so, the pope tweeted. What he said far less important than the fact that he tweeted -- but what he said is nonetheless revealing. His tweet: "Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI." What is significant about this comes down to the [...]

Time for a few Friday links: John Allen on Pope Benedict's latest book: "It’s likely to cement the impression that Benedict XVI is his own best spokesperson." Diary of a Part Time Monk: A man decides to fast on doppelbock beer ("liquid bread") and water for the whole of Lent -- just like monks used [...]

Pope Benedict addressed a gathering of diplomats to the Holy See yesterday, urging them to encourage religious freedom in their home countries: The Pope asked the representatives of 178 countries, as well as of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the European Community and the Knights of Malta, to examine how well their own countries respected the [...]

At Our Sunday Visitor, our friend and longtime Vatican analyst Russell Shaw says Pope Benedict XVI's new book-length interview reveals a pontiff who understands his role, and its limitations. When Seewald says the Catholic Church’s membership of 1.2 billion and its geographical extension throughout the world make him “the most powerful pope of all time,” [...]

CNS reports that a new seminary opened last week in Cuba: The new headquarters of the archdiocesan seminary of St. Charles and St. Ambrose was inaugurated on Wednesday. It is a complex of salmon-colored buildings organized around a chapel with stained glass windows located about five miles south of Havana. The Holy See’s Secretary of [...]

Yesterday, the pope released a statement on immigration for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, coming up in January 2011. Titled "One Human Family," Benedict addresses the dignity of all immigrants while acknowledging nations' rights to regulate their flow: "The World Day of Migrants and Refugees offers the whole Church an opportunity to reflect [...]

Pope Benedict released a letter to seminarians today, encouraging them in their vocation. It starts with an incredible story from his youth in Nazi Germany, explaining why priests are so desperately needed -- "today, tomorrow, and always": When in December 1944 I was drafted for military service, the company commander asked each of us what [...]

Here's part 5 in 1953's serial "Catholics in Action," an exploration of living the Church's social doctrine in one's day-to-day life, no politics necessary.  Today, the focus is on evangelizing. As always, these pages come from Catholic University's online archive of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact. This fits in so well with the "New [...]

Pope Benedict was in Palermo, Sicily, yesterday, encouraging the locals to resist the evils of the Mafia: "The temptation toward discouragement, to resignation, comes to those who are weak in faith, to those who confuse evil with good, to those who think that, faced with often profound evil, there is nothing to do," Benedict told [...]

Deacon Greg linked to an article in the Vancouver Sun this morning that wrapped up the pope's UK visit, and I'm exasperated just from the title: Pope sheds 'Vatican Rottweiler' image on Britain trip Really? Are we still acting surprised when, once again, Pope Benedict turns out to be nothing like the angry caricature so [...]

The Associated Press reported today that Pope Benedict has appointed a senior Vatican official, Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, to serve as papal delegate of the Legionaries of Christ. De Paolis, an Italian, currently heads the Holy See's financial office. The news report says it is not known what this means for Father Alvaro Corcuera Martinez [...]

The "Year of the Priest" has come to an end, and in his homily in St. Peter's to mark the occassion, Pope Benedict had some strong and clear comments about the sex abuse scandal, reported by Reuters: Wearing white and gold vestments as he spoke to some 15,000 priests, Benedict said the year that was [...]

Time for some links to get the morning rolling:  As if the bill weren't already controversial enough: The Senate Armed Services Committee approves an amendment to the bill seeking the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" that would allow abortions at military hospitals. Pope Benedict reaffirms celibacy during the closing events for the Year of [...]

Although we’re back to ordinary time in the liturgical calendar, there’s never a time -- liturgically speaking -- when it the life of the faithful is dull, much less ordinary. As if to remind us of this, ordinary time is frequently punctuated by celebrations, something that breaks up the daily routine. This week, to mark [...]

Yesterday, 150,000 people (give or take) packed St. Peter's Square for Pope Benedict's noon address. My view was literally a sea of people. In fact, that was my view from all sides. Normally, I hate crowds, but this was really inspiring. It always is when thousands of people are quiet, listening to the pope, and [...]

A few links for your Friday morning:  News outlets are shocked -- shocked! -- that Pope Benedict doesn't approve of gay marriage. Much like the recent Denver case, a boy in Massachussetts was denied re-enrollment in a Catholic school because of his parents' homosexual relationship. Unlike the recent Denver case, the archdiocese has offered to [...]

Today is Pope Benedict’s final day in Portugal. He departed from Fatima this morning for the northern city Opporto, where he celebrated Mass. Opporto is a port city (famous for Port wine), the second largest in the country, and significant not only as a commercial center but because of the large number of immigrants. In [...]

In his General Audience today, Pope Benedict addressed the sex-abuse scandal publicly for the first time since his March 20 letter to the Irish bishops: Pope Benedict XVI promised Wednesday that the Catholic Church would take action to confront the clerical sex abuse scandal, making his first public comments on the crisis days after meeting [...]