Did Paul VI approve of Congo nuns using the Pill? Does it matter if he didn’t?
I find the insistence in some quarters that Pope Paul VI never approved the use of contraception by nuns in the Congo in danger of being raped to be curious. It is not a claim I made in my article Contraception, Congo Nuns, Choosing the Lesser Evil, and Conflict of Commandments, but I nonetheless wanted to consult the sources at my disposal to see what if any light they could shed on the matter...
Rare jewel: Earth-like planets may be very rare...
I have written a good bit over the years about what is known as the “Rare Earth” Hypothesis. A recent blog on discovermagazine.com ponders how high the odds are against the existence of another Earth-like planet. More on that in a moment. But first let’s review some of the basics of the Rare Earth Hypothesis. While most people...
No, the Apollo 10 astronauts didn't hear ‘Alien music’ behind the Moon...
St. Gregory of Narek, the Armenian mystic...
St. Gregory of Narek was born around the year 950 A.D. into an ecclesiastical family of scholars. Khosrov, an archbishop, was his father. At the death of his mother, his cousin, Anania of Narek, who also founded the monastery and the school in Narek, educated him. At a very young age, St. Gregory entered the monastery, which was located on the southeast shore of Lake Van in Vaspurakan in Greater Armenia (now Turkey)...
Of the people, by the people, for the people—more or less...
Mercy and patience now, but sooner or later judgment must come...
The Stational Churches of Rome: A Lenten devotion whose time has come again...
NFL star and actor Terry Crews talks about overcoming his porn addiction...
Terry Crews was born in Flint, Michigan, in 1968 and was drafted by the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams in 1991. After several years playing pro football, Crews retired and pursued an acting career, which took flight on the big screen in 2000’s The 6th Day. Many film roles have followed. Also known for appearing in a series of Old Spice commercials...
How to be kind to people you deeply dislike...
Training for holiness: The meaning of asceticism...
Watch: Joyful chaos erupts when African kids see a drone for the first time...
On Kobe Bryant, retired battleships and sin...
Media just can't seem to grasp what friends (including females) meant to St. John Paul II...
If you know much about the young Polish actor and philosopher Karol Wojtyla, then you know that his path to the Catholic priesthood was quite unusual, surrounded as we was by the horrors of the Nazi occupation and then the chains of a puppet regime marching to a Soviet drummer. In his massive authorized biography of the St. Pope John Paul II...
Must sterilized couple seek reversal?
Having repented of their sinful actions and having confessed their sins and having received absolution, they may receive Holy Communion and continue in their vocations to help each other get to heaven. Now that the sterilization is a fact, they are not obliged to seek a reversal of the procedure. It is praiseworthy that they do and they may...
The miraculous saint story behind Justice Scalia's “secret” society...
The Seven Deadly Sins really are deadly...
Somebody observed about the current front runner presidential choices, “It seems to be a choice between six deadly sins on the one hand and half a dozen on the other...” Certainly the current election cycle is disappointing for anyone who is looking for the candidate of personal virtue. Usually the investigators dig deep to find the hidden scandal and the skeleton in the closet...
The devil hates faith and reason alike...
New Advent is edited by Kevin Knight (webmaster
newadvent.org)
How a few Trappist monks came to brew the world's most exclusive beer...
The place is remote and hard to get to. Public transportation from the nearest major city can take up to 9 hours. Even if you drive yourself, you’re forced to navigate unmarked and unpaved roads. When you arrive, you may find long lines of anxious and tired travelers who are known to sometimes break out into fist fights. Nonetheless...
7 reasons this Catholic mom loves homeschooling her children...
My husband and I have planned to homeschool our children from very early in our dating relationship. We had both been sent to traditional schools, him all Catholic schools, and me public and then Catholic high school. We felt we could give our children a fuller and more Catholic education than we received by homeschooling them. With our oldest in first grade...
Thank God for the Boston Globe. Thank God for ‘Spotlight’...
I watched Spotlight, the movie about the Boston Globe’s investigative reporting that uncovered a clerical-abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan one Sunday morning after Mass this fall. I went right after a morning Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I cried watching that movie. I looked around and saw sorrow...
Glimpsing God’s grace Off Broadway...
We need to understand the limits of science, know the first principles, and embrace wonder and awe ...
True to the late Fr. Jaki’s dictum, I am a thorough materialist. I see nature as a system of interacting matter and forces. My four-year-old son has apparently acquired my enthusiasm. He heard me say that everything is made of atoms, and he took that idea seriously and pervasively. “Mom, are trees atoms? Mom, is my arm atoms...
What would happen if you tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a straw?
Why are you your own worst proofreader? And how can you fix that?
Feminist bravado unwittingly reveals the horror of abortion...
When you have your first abortion, go home and make jokes. Sit down and talk about “how you were ‘killin’ it’ today and laugh with your friends.” That’s the advice of “a waitress in Minneapolis” with the improbable name of Madeleine Roe, who offers “Twenty Tips for Your First Abortion.” Her advice, given on the “badass feminist” site...
‘Risen’ is a Christian movie for Romans like us...
Risen is a powerful new film about the resurrection of Christ and the first days of the Church. It has suspense, intrigue, tense chase sequences and even some cool combat scenes. The film is accurate, exciting, and truthful, without being preachy or melodramatic. I almost called it “reverent,” but that word isn’t right: It suggests a cautious...
Is the devil winning? No. Not even close...
Looking around the world today, it may seem as though the devil is winning. After all, sin seems to be winning. Indeed, the inverse of the Ten Commandments has become the operator’s manual for many sad souls. And so it is no surprise that the devil, the poster child for sin, is increasingly portrayed in books, movies, television...
How astronomers see the universe through our galaxy...
Satan is scary, but God is great: Details on Indiana's possessed house...
Is there really a “Sunday exception” during Lent?
God's love is the 'beating heart' of the Church, Pope Francis says...
Italian Senate passes same-sex civil unions bill...
Does science prove the existence of God?
Get this entire Catholic website as an instant digital download...
The full contents of the New Advent website are available as a digital download. It includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — and it's only $19.99...
CATHOLIC LINKS
Adoration: Adoration DirectoryAudio: Lighthouse - Audio Sancto
Bibles: Douay - Knox - NAB - RSVCE
Blogs: Blog Directory
Bulletins: Seek and Find
Calendars: Calendar - Easter Table
Catechisms: Baltimore Catechism - Catechism of the Catholic Church
Events: Catholic Event Finder
Forums: Catholics Answers Forums
HHS Mandate: Becket Fund
Jobs: Catholic Jobs
Latin: Ecclesiastical Latin Resources
Latin Mass: TLM Altar Server Tutorial - TLM Mass Directory
Mass Times: MassTimes
Movie Reviews: USCCB Movie Reviews
Panoramas: St. John Lateran - Sistine Chapel
Readings: Today's Readings (USCCB)
Retreats: U.S. Retreats and Retreat Centers
OTHER LINKS
Cameras: EarthCam (Live) - Aerial PanoramasComics: Calvin and Hobbes - C&H Search Engine - Dilbert - Peanuts
Customer Service: GetHuman
Fact Checking: Snopes
Find Things: Mailboxes (USA) - Payphones - Phone Numbers
Money: Missing Money
Privacy: Do Not Call
Reading Lists: Hardon - McCloskey - USLHE - Marines
Scanners: Air Traffic Control - Radio Reference - Broadcastify
Shopping (Local): Yard Sales
Tracking: Airplanes - ISS - Satellites - Ships #1 - Ships #2
Travel (Flying): Turbulence - VFR Maps - SeatGuru - FlightAware
Travel (Hotels): Bed Bug Registry
Weather: ECMRF (Europe) - NCAR/RAP - Wind Map - National Weather Service (USA)
