These stories have been handpicked from blogs and news sites around the Web -- some Catholic, some not.https://www.newadvent.org/news/feedburner.xml tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-5968544163540287371Headhttps://www.ncregister.com/cna/pope-leo-xiv-the-musical-heritage-of-the-church-must-be-preservednull@newadvent.org (null)Pope Leo XIV has highlighted the importance of sacred music in the liturgy, calling for the Church’s musical heritage to be preserved while fostering healthy inculturation of local traditions. In his address during his general audience at the Vatican on Aug. 19, the pontiff continued his catechesis on the Second Vatican Council’s constitution on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-246600358400294720Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/cna/it-s-always-the-holy-spirit-meet-3-dioceses-seeing-large-numbers-of-priestly-ordinationsnull@newadvent.org (null)What drives a young man to discern into the priesthood — a supportive family, a vibrant parish, a proactive pastor, an outspoken bishop? Father John Eckert’s response: “Yes.” Father Eckert, the vocations director for the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, chuckled a little when describing the myriad paths that a young man may take when finding his way to holy orders. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-8081429535207789022Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/fernandez-coming-battle-of-despairnull@newadvent.org (Albert Fernandez)It was the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, shortly before descending into madness, who wrote that “if we have our own why of life, we shall get along with almost any how.” Nietzsche, famously hostile to Christianity, was certainly not thinking of Christ as the “why” of life but the maxim still stands. We are mostly built and conditioned for purpose-filled lives, one way or another. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-7316904964045951937Lefthttps://stpaulcenter.com/posts/oh-the-depths-scott-hahn-reflects-on-the-twenty-first-sunday-in-ordinary-timenull@newadvent.org (Scott Hahn)“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” Paul exclaims in today’s Epistle. Today’s Psalm, too, takes up the triumphant note of joy and thanksgiving. Why? Because in the Gospel, the heavenly Father reveals the mystery of His kingdom to Peter. With Peter, we rejoice that Jesus is the anointed Son promised to David, the one prophesied to build God’s temple and reign over an everlasting kingdom... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1316378254172065226Centerhttps://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/pope-leo-xiv-expresses-closeness-to-victims-of-earthquake-in-indonesianull@newadvent.org (null)Pope Leo XIV has sent a message expressing his closeness to the Indonesian people following a 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck the country on Aug. 15.In a telegram dated Aug. 17 and signed by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the pope expressed his sadness on learning of the earthquake, which, according to an Aug. 17 BBC news report, has killed at least 53 people and left over 5,000 displaced. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-699910950125276703Lefthttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/incoming-freshmen-oklahoma-bishop-kelley-high-school-give-their-mothers-goodbye-kiss/null@newadvent.org (null)For incoming freshmen at Bishop Kelley High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma, it's hard to imagine a more mortifying first day. All the seniors surround their cars and don’t let them out until they do one specific thing: give their mothers a goodbye kiss. “We hold the car, we hold the car door, preventing it from opening,” one senior Bishop Kelly student told CBS News. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-8135271116218370544Centerhttps://www.ewtnnews.com/watch/clips/4537null@newadvent.org (null)Every summer, tens of thousands of Vietnamese American Catholics gather in Carthage, Missouri, for Marian Days, one of the largest annual Catholic gatherings in the United States. Alan Holdren takes us inside the Marian Days festival and pilgrimage to see how Vietnamese Catholics celebrate their faith, honor the Blessed Mother, and preserve their cultural traditions... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-404209111481186751Lefthttps://tmattingly.substack.com/p/crossroads-if-sophie-points-to-godnull@newadvent.org (Terry Mattingly)To say the least, Indiana Fever star Sophie (“Do the Sophie”) Cunningham’s quotes about trans athletes and women’s sports ignited a firestorm in sports, politics, social media and the elite press. In this case, the sports world includes the small, struggling Women’s National Professional Basketball Association. The furor started at ESPN, of course... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-2648705518279331243Centerhttps://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-08/pope-leo-angelus-address-16-august-2026.htmlnull@newadvent.org (null)Pope Leo XIV reflects on the faith of the Canaanite woman, urging the Church to recognise how God’s grace works beyond established boundaries and to overcome discrimination and barriers that violate human dignity. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-7842806992699575423Lefthttps://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-08/pope-leo-xiv-angelus-assumption-15-august-2026.htmlnull@newadvent.org (null)Pope Leo marked the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary by inviting the faithful to contemplate their ultimate destiny: the fullness of eternal life in God. Addressing pilgrims gathered in Castel Gandolfo for his midday Angelus on Saturday, the Pope described the Assumption as a feast of great importance both for Catholic theology and for popular devotion. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-9197039726231262359Centerhttps://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/live-in-st-louis-episcopal-healthnull@newadvent.org (Ed Condon)Next month will see (finally) the beatification of Ven. Fulton Sheen. After a lengthy, sometimes acrimonious, and always contentious back-and-forth between the archbishop’s home Diocese of Peoria and the Archdiocese of New York, where he served as an auxiliary bishop and was buried for many years, the beatification is now scheduled to take place in... St. Louis on September 24. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-8266880708082463739Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/news/pentin-masonic-funerals-cancelednull@newadvent.org (Edward Pentin)Recent last-minute cancellations of two Catholic funerals for prominent Italian Freemasons have revealed growing confusion over Freemasonry and its relationship with the Italian Church after a decade of controversial efforts to establish dialogue with the secretive group, long proscribed by the Church. In early August, a funeral had been scheduled for Bruno Battisti D’Amario... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1311993274972299278Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/audio/register-radio-aug-15-2026-da5oexkpnull@newadvent.org (null)This week on Register Radio we ask: Are AI-guided autonomous weapons changing the rules of war? Topics include: The first autonomous kill in combat? (1:07), Pope Leo on AI and the morality of warfare (2:22), What is U.S. policy on autonomous weapons? (6:52), and What do “killer robots” actually look like? (10:51) tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-2726388134476560782Lefthttps://stpaulcenter.com/posts/a-foreigners-faith-scott-hahn-reflects-on-the-twentieth-sunday-in-ordinary-timenull@newadvent.org (null)Most of us are the foreigners, the non-Israelites, about whom today’s First Reading prophesies. Coming to worship the God of Israel, we stand in the line of faith epitomized by the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel. Calling to Jesus as Lord and Son of David, this foreigner shows her great faith in God’s covenant with Israel. Jesus tests her faith three times... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-5159051266335026802Centerhttps://life-craft.org/writing-a-letter-for-relationship/null@newadvent.org (John Cuddeback)If my experience is any indication, personal letter writing has become rarer. The difference between emails and ‘real’ letters is surely related to why we write less even as it has become easier. But here I want to reflect on the importance and beauty of writing to loved ones and friends, either way. This is another ordinary aspect of human life that will reward our attention and intentionality. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-2717745520032137319Lefthttps://knowingisdoing.org/blog/does-speaking-about-christ-terrify-younull@newadvent.org (Marlon De La Torre)It is not often that you encounter a group of people who exhibit a sense of terror when asked about the first time they discovered Jesus Christ in their lives. The responses to this question were wide-ranging. Some responded at baptism, others during a particular Mass, others during a near-death experience or the loss of a loved one... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-3501103574005165946Centerhttps://www.cnn.com/2026/08/12/science/gallery/photos-total-solar-eclipsenull@newadvent.org (null)A total solar eclipse created a stellar spectacle for millions of people on Wednesday. This celestial phenomenon occurs when the moon moves between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow on our planet that completely blocks the sun’s light from some areas of the world. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-7097996362715933978Lefthttps://www.nbcnews.com/world/europe/childhood-friends-find-missing-piece-dna-test-reveals-sisters-rcna592094null@newadvent.org (null)Meena and Minal were left as infants at orphanages in India ⁠and grew up in different adoptive families in the Netherlands, just a short drive apart. Now, 40 years later, a DNA test has shown that the childhood friends are biological sisters. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-6652394108483689236Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/interview/st-edith-stein-s-answer-to-a-world-starved-of-beautynull@newadvent.org (null)For St. Edith Stein, divine beauty is “the ultimate ground or cause of everything that is beautiful” and the remedy to the emptiness and superficiality of a world that seeks beauty without recourse to God. Stein saw God as “the Eternal Artist, the Divine Artist” who is “always creating, always shaping, always perfecting His creation,” Mitchell explains... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-1416854829281693375Lefthttps://www.wordonfire.org/articles/alasdair-macintyre-on-abortion/null@newadvent.org (Christopher Kaczor)The abortion debate is characteristically discussed in terms of either a broadly Kantian framework of rights or a broadly utilitarian framework of maximization of happiness, so Alasdair MacIntyre’s rejection of both approaches may cast new light on the ethics of abortion. MacIntyre rejects arguments from the “right to life.” But he also rejects arguments... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4975338007014841042Centerhttps://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/haiti-bishop-says-gangs-target-church-as-violence-shuts-parishes-schoolsnull@newadvent.org (null)Bishop Joseph Gontrand Décoste of Jérémie, Haiti, detailed the ongoing violence in the nation and warned that the Church has become a target for gangs. The Church is “the last remaining bulkhead — moral, ethical, spiritual, and prophetic,” he said. “That is why they want to eliminate us.” Décoste told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), an international Catholic pastoral aid organization... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-5165558982925176533Lefthttps://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/australian-bishop-convicted-of-sexualnull@newadvent.org (null)Bishop Christopher Saunders was convicted of sexual abuse on Thursday, after jurours took just seven hours to consider the evidence against the former head of the Diocese of Broome, Australia. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-2829248609823911564Centerhttps://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/fr-maurice-the-news-and-going-muftinull@newadvent.org (J.D. Flynn)Two things can be true at once. Take Tibet. Tibetan people have a litany of legitimate grievances against the Chinese Communist Party, and Beijing’s human rights record in Tibet is deeply troubling, especially where freedom of religion, culture, speech, and conscience are concerned. There are ample reports of forced labor and labor trafficking from Tibet, and claims of forced sterilization and abortion in the region... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-5877647802264876204Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/dmq-sspx-weddingnull@newadvent.org (E. Christian Brugger)The Church’s recent decree gives you no reason to fear that merely attending an SSPX wedding would incur excommunication. Even so, you must still make a prudent judgment about whether attending or declining to attend would better bear witness both to the unity of the Church and to the demands of Christian charity. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-3124134137988567846Centerhttps://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/italian-bishops-cancel-masonic-funeralsnull@newadvent.org (null)Two Italian bishops have intervened in the last week to cancel funerals for senior Freemasons scheduled to be held in Catholic churches. The interventions are the latest in a series of moves by bishops around the world to reinforce the Church’s centuries-old opposition to Freemasonry and its canonical discipline on Catholics who join Masonic lodges. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-8649941995249812273Lefthttps://www.ewtnnews.com/world/americas/earthquake-in-colombia-causes-at-least-20-deaths-partial-collapse-of-neo-gothic-cathedralnull@newadvent.org (null)A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake shook several regions of western Colombia on Monday, Aug. 10, killing at least 20 people and causing severe damage to many buildings, including the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as the Manizales Cathedral, in the department of Caldas... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4184314716674202134Centerhttps://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/pope-leo-xiv-appeals-for-an-end-to-violence-in-sudan-and-ukrainenull@newadvent.org (null)During his Sunday Angelus address on Aug. 9, Pope Leo XIV appealed for peace amid a serious humanitarian situation in Sudan, where a prolonged military siege has left more than 500,000 people without access to basic supplies. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4876849636250056924Lefthttps://media.benedictine.edu/this-sunday-at-the-darkest-hour-jesus-emerges-from-the-storm-in-our-lifenull@newadvent.org (Tom Hoopes)The wind is raging and the swells of the sea are taller than the boat. The night seems never-ending, and Jesus has gone missing. Do you hunker down and go where the wind takes you? Do you grit your teeth and wait for the end? Or do you step out into the storm? Here are six takeaways for Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary time Year A... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-5668140341536610213Centerhttps://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/vatican-releases-schedule-for-pope-leo-s-september-trip-to-francenull@newadvent.org (null)The Vatican on Aug. 7 published the official schedule for Pope Leo XIV’s apostolic journey to France, where he will visit Paris, Lourdes, and Metz from Sept. 25–28. The Vatican also announced that, as he did during his recent journey to Spain, he will meet with victims of clerical sexual abuse during his France trip... tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-2053295684935427253Lefthttps://www.osvnews.com/kansas-diocese-opens-new-seminary-more-than-20-years-in-the-making/null@newadvent.org (null)A Kansas diocese will open its own seminary at the end of August, realizing a dream more than two decades in the making.The Diocese of Wichita announced Aug. 6 that Bishop Carl A. Kemme will formally establish St. Philip Neri Seminary, named for the 16th-century priest and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory who helped to revive both clergy and Church during the Counter-Reformation. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4707406872482347145Centerhttps://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/pope-leo-xiv-to-assisi-youth-europe-and-the-whole-world-are-looking-to-you-to-be-new-saintsnull@newadvent.org (null)Pope Leo XIV called on young people gathered in Assisi to become “new saints,” reject the culture of power, and help build a world founded on fraternity rather than domination. The pope celebrated Mass on Thursday at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels before the Portiuncula, the small chapel closely associated with the life and vocation of St. Francis. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-8148451487948374041Lefthttps://www.ncregister.com/interview/quantum-physics-and-the-mystery-of-god-s-creationnull@newadvent.org (null)Catholic physicist and professor Vincenzo Tamma explains how quantum mechanics reveals the intelligibility of nature, points beyond itself to the Creator, and opens new paths for an interdisciplinary dialogue between science, philosophy and theology. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-118260575322486701Centerhttps://catholicmissionarydisciples.com/news/your-parish-does-not-have-a-volunteer-problemnull@newadvent.org (Marcel LeJeune)If you have been Catholic long enough, you have seen the local parish version of the military draft, which happens annually. Before or after Mass, someone gets up and announces a dire need of catechists, or that the parish festival is a week away and they have only half the volunteers needed. A few people are guilted into helping. A few more are nagged. A few just want the announcements to stop. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-143725354209725698Lefthttps://life-craft.org/dealing-with-weariness/null@newadvent.org (null)When I was in graduate school, an elderly lady lived next door to our lively bachelor pad. We almost never saw her, but I remember once she said to us across the fence, “I’m tired. I’m just plain tired of life.” There was no mistaking the profound inner weariness in her words. Somewhat bewildered, I thought, “Wow, how unfortunate.” Though I had experienced a share of travails and disappointments, such a disposition was largely beyond my ken. tag:newadvent.org,1999:blog-3972000218521616682.post-4192026370009234159Centerhttps://www.ncregister.com/commentaries/desouza-cristero-rebellionnull@newadvent.org (Fr. Raymond de Souza)Catholics in Canada and the United States are inclined to admire the popular piety of Mexico, looking forward to the upcoming 500th anniversary of the apparitions at Guadalupe in 2031. But 100 years ago, Mexico was suffering a fierce anti-Catholic persecution. The administration of the sacraments was suspended for three years, and faithful Catholics were hunted down and killed.