Catholicism

[Also see Parts 1, 2, and 3]Indefinitely, if I presented this argument to a friend, they would bring up the fact that in Matthew 16:18, in the greek, Peter –Petros- and rock –petra- do not agree in gender and so rock could not be referring to Peter. What is the rebuttal to that?Matthew used the Greek word petros for Simon's new name, instead of petra because you can't use a feminine noun for a

Back on October 29th in my Holiday Comparison, I was a touch off on a point or two so I will correct myself. In particular, I was a touch off on saying that Israel did not have a true winter such as defined in Europe, Canada, and northern USA. That is both correct [...]

[Also see Part 1 and Part 2]As far as the first question about the scriptures I feel that you fairly represented the Catholic side and I can understand. The more and more I become convinced that the sacraments are more than symbols the more I feel this is less of an issue because I would then believe they are administers of grace, which I don’t’ believe would fit with the OSAS idea.That is cor

In a statement that's sure to aggravate the Intelligent Design crowd, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi , head of the Pontifical Council for Culture said, (from asianews.it)There is no "a priori incompatibility" between the theory of evolution, biblical teaching, and theology, but there is a need to "clarify", 150 years after its publication, the work of Charles Darwin, which today "is too often

One of the more elusive films of the year has finally landed a [vague] trailer. Starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis, the film centres on a priest who is accused of abusing a black student but then obviously denies it and religious, moral and authority issues ensue. That is all [...]

The Catholic church has long been supportive of a worker's right to organize. Bishops, Priests, Nuns, and other Clergy have long been at the front lines along side workers and union organizers, standing up against unfair labor practices, against intimidation of employees, and for the recognition of a union in the workplace. But what happens when the Catholic Church also owns hospital chains that

Recently, I began a Catholic Q&A in the bulletin for my parish. I think that offering my knowledge in this way is very helpful because, a lot of times, the reason people leave the Church is because there was no one there to answer their questions. I want to resolve any confusion that might be out there and help my parish to see what a blessing it is to be Catholic.For the first two Sundays, I drew

The Pope is in Sydney at the moment and one man has flown out from London to greet him.Anthony Foster is an amazing man and father whose daughters were raped by a Catholic Priest, Kevin O'Donnell, when they were in primary school. Australian Cardinal George Pell stalled the family's compensation claim against the Church when he was archbishop of Melbourne. It's part of a pattern of abuse which the

The rumors may well be simply an over reaction to the warm welcome given President Bush by the Pope, but the word is spreading around the Vatican that George Bush might be interested in converting to Catholicism. Unlike most foreign dignitaries who are greeted by the Pope in the Library of the Apostolic, Pope Benedict [...]

President George W. Bush met with Pope Benedict at the Vatican yesterday amid growing rumors that Bush was seriously considering becoming a Roman Catholic.The two leaders gathered privately for half an hour in the 12th century Tower of St John. This was considered to be a great honor for Bush, and it was the Pope's way of reciprocating the warm reception that the Pope received when he visited the

Responding to an open letter which I wrote to His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert J. McManus, and which may be found here, an anonymous individual has left a comment at this Blog defending Fr. Andre Dargis. This anonymous individual wrote, "Catholicism was never meant to be taken literally...All of the negative bloggers here seem content to cite Church teachings as if Christ himself taught th

[also see Part 1]I have read some catholic apologetics on this stuff and they always show new scriptures, but I would like to understand how Romans 10 I think it is where it says “ If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Or the verse John wrote how he “wrote all these things that you might know you have eternal

I have recently began a conversation, via email, with someone who is considering a return to the faith of his youth, after being away from Catholicism since high school. He has allowed me to post our conversation on my blog, with the hope that others may be able to benefit from it as well. Here is our first exchange.Pax Christi,phatcatholic- - - - - - - - - -What is the plan of salvation according

You all may be familiar with a Protestant website called Crosswalk. Many people, including myself, use their "Bible Study Tools" for Scripture study because they include various translations of Scripture, along with a wide variety of commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, encyclopedias, lexicons, and other reference works. It really is an amazingly helful website.At any rate, I noticed today an

While Faux News and the other main stream media are harping daily on Barack Obama and Reverend Wright, John McCain's most famous Christian endorser John Hagee continues to make ridiculously offensive statements and not be called on the carpet.Watch the 1 minute clip below to see Hagee compare the Roman Catholic Church to Adolph Hitler, say Catholicism is a "false religious system", call it 'The Great Whore", and that it will be destroyed by the Anti-Christ. Hagee also says Hitler didn't do "anything that has not been done by the Roman Church for the past 800 years."Hagee has not faced one true word of rebuke from McCain, not one word on Faux News saying his statements are offensive to the 1 billion Catholics worldwide. And this clip is the tip of the iceberg, Hagee has said much worse thi

←Created page with 'Cathedral of Saint Mary in Miami, Florida The '''Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami''' is a ...' New page[[Image:Cathedral of Saint Mary.jpg|100px|right|Cathedral of Saint Mary in Miami, Florida]] The '''Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami''' is a [[particular church]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] in the United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes [[Broward County, Florida|Broward]], [[Miami-Dade County, Florida|Miami-Dade]] and [[Monroe County, Florida|Monroe]] counties in Florida. The [[archdiocese]] is the [[metropolitan see]] for the Roman Catholic Church in the State of Florida. The current [[archbishop]] is John Favalora. As archbishop, Favalora also serves as [[pastor]] of the Cathedral of Saint Mary, the mother church of the archdiocese. Also servi

Mark Shea, obsessive Catholic blogger and writer, has a fine op-ed piece, "Science Fiction and the Areopagus," up at InsideCatholic.Not that I don't enjoy science fiction and fantasy novels and films, not least because they constitute perhaps the principal place in our culture where it is routine, expected, normal, and welcome to discuss matters of both theology and philosophy. [more...]He mentions a number of Catholic writers and works dealing with Catholicism in the piece. His comments are thoughtful, and he suggests that sf and fantasy are just about the only forum left in our culture where someone can present an intelligent discussion of philosophy and religion.He forgets to mention one important Catholic sf work, however: Space Vulture by Gary K. Wolf and the archbishop of Newark. My

There are some interesting differences of the doctrinal, organizational and ceremonial aspects among the Orthodox Church, Catholicism and Protestantism. We would like to draw your attention to the most significant ones. 1. Church structure and organization. • Attitude towards other Christian confessions. The Orthodox Church considers that they are the only true Church in the World.

"For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us," Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican's yearbook.He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population - a stable percentage - while Muslims were at 19.2 percent."It is true that while Muslim families, as is well known, continue to make a lot of children, Christian ones on the contrary tend to have fewer and fewer," the monsignor said.Formenti said that the data refer to 2006. The figures on Muslims were put together by Muslim countries and then provided to the United Nations, he said, adding that the Vatican could only vouch for its own data.When considering all Christians and not just Catholi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Catholicism_in_the_United_States"John Highham described anti-Catholic bigotry as "the most luxuriant, tenacious tradition of paranoiac agitation in American history". Bigotry against the Roman Catholic Church and its followers, which was prominent in the United Kingdom from the seventeenth century onwards, was exported to the United States. Two types of anti-Catholic rhetoric existed in colonial society. The first, derived from the heritage of the Protestant Reformation and the religious wars of the sixteenth century, consisted of the "Anti-Christ" and the "Whore of Babylon" variety and dominated anti-Catholic thought until the late seventeenth century. The second was a more secular variety which focused on the supposed intrigue of the Roman Catholics intent on extending medieval despotism worldwide.Harvard professor and historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Sr. characterized prejudice against the Catholics as "the deepest bias in the history of the Americ

Today's first reading at Holy Mass is taken from Isaiah 11: 1-10:"On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD. Not by appearance shall he judge, nor by hearsay shall he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land's afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together,with a little child to guide them. The cow and the bear shall be neighbors, together their young shall rest; the lion shall eat

Found this article on FOXnews.com. Very, very interesting. I had heard before (a "rumor") that the Catholic church had notice the growth of Pentecostalism... this just validates that story.Go Jesus!Cardinals Discuss Threat From Christian SectsThe Roman Catholic Church must figure out what it is doing wrong in the battle for souls since so many Catholics are leaving the Church to join Pentecostal and other evangelical movements, a top Vatican cardinal said Friday.Click here to view the rest of the article.

...from the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.Okay, not exactly.The particular issue is Protestant clergy living in a homosexual relationship, and while I have no particular right to an opinion as to how Protestants run their ecclesial communities, I agree with Dr. Albert Mohler on the impropriety of such relationships. But we'll let that go for now.The point is that I also agree with Dr. Mohler (not that he cares or would even, perhaps, welcome my agreement) at a deeper level. Dr. Mohler clearly recognizes what this deeper level is:"Long before these churches faced controversies over sexuality, they had already allowed the doctrinal foundations of their churches to be eroded and compromised."Well, yes. These churches -- Dr. Mohler is discussing specifically the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Presbyterian Church USA -- have their origins in men who were convinced that they, rather than the Catholic Church, correctly understood the teachings of Jes

Could Blair be on the verge of declaring himself a Catholic? Tony Blair is preparing to convert to Roman Catholicism after he steps down as Prime Minister, according to a leading cleric. His long-awaited formal switch to the faith of...

The Catholic Wiki Project has an impressive list of references to Catholicism in science fiction, courtesy of the extensive research of Speculative Catholic. Check out this list. It's rather breathtaking.For example, there's a reference to Stephen Baxter's "Inherit the Earth," with a robotic pope, and Lester Del Rey's "The Eleventh Commandment," which is about contraception. And many, many more.