Catholic Fire

November 8, 2013. (Romereports.com) The Vatican announced that, for the first time in history, it will publicly display the relics of St. Peter, the very first Pope and original Bishop of Rome. It'll be a unique exhibit to mark the conclusion of the Year of Faith.   Msgr. Rino Fisichella, president for the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, made the announcement in an editorial published in the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano. The Apostle's remains will leave the Vatican Grotto for the celebrations, but exact details are not yet clear. On November 21, Pope Francis will visit a cloistered monastery in Rome. On the 23, he will meet with cathechumens inside St. Peter's Basilica. The Year of Faith will conclude on Sunday, the 24th, with the Pope celebrating Mass at St. Peter's Square.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is asking Catholics to pray, fast, and abstain from meat on Friday, November 8, for engaged couples , “that they may recognize the high calling of their unique vocation to love one another as Christ loves the Church.” In a reflection published along with the weekly request for prayers, the USCCB notes that “the marriage of one man and one woman is not a temporary contract or something that can be ended if a husband or wife “falls out of love.’” Rather, “the bond of marriage is all-encompassing,” and the marriage vow is indissoluble. Married couples, the USCCB observes, participate in the love of the Trinity, which is eternal. In December 2012, the US bishops announced a call to prayer and penance whose “overall focus is to invite Catholics to pray for rebuilding a culture favorable to life and marriage and for increased protections of religious liberty. Campaign components include monthly Eucharistic holy hours in cathe...

October 28, 2013 (Romereports.com) Over 100,000 people from different parts of the world, came out to St. Peter's Square to take part in the 'Day for the Family.' As Pope Francis got ready to celebrate Mass, he took a quick glance at his watch to make sure he was on schedule.   During his homily, the Pope connected prayer to humility, by explaining that humility comes from recognizing that one needs God. POPE FRANCIS “All families need God. Every single one. We need His help, His strength, His blessing, His mercy and His forgiveness. It takes simplicity. To pray as a family, simplicity is needed.” The Mass falls under the events organized under the 'Year of Faith.' The Pope reflected on St. Paul, by explaining that part of keeping the faith, comes with sharing it. Even when families are pressed for time, he said, prayer should not be ignored. POPE FRANCIS “As a family, you can pray the 'Our Father' around the dinner table. That's not difficu...

August 14, 2013. (Romereports.com) The statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima will travel all the way from Portugal to the Vatican, where Pope Francis is planning on consecrating the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.   The 'Marian Day' ceremony, which is scheduled to take place at the Vatican on Sunday, October 13th, will be attended by hundreds of religious movements and institutions that have a special Marian devotion. This Mass is one of the last main events scheduled for the 'Year of Faith.' Even before that Mass, things will be busy at the Vatican. On Saturday October 12th, different prayer events are scheduled along with a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Peter. Then on the 13th, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Square before thousands of faithful. The Statue of Our Lady will make its way to Rome, at the request of Pope Francis, who has shown a great devotion to Mary, since the very first day of his pontificate. The Statue will ...

July 31, 2013. (Romereports.com) This year, the Vatican plans to celebrate family to highlight its role a fundamental institution in Christian life. To celebrate this, the Vatican is organizing a unique pilgrimage to St. Peter's tomb. The event, which will take place on Saturday, October 26th and Sunday 27th, is sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family. It's included in the list of celebrations for the Year of Faith. Specifically, the Council wants to emphasize the the key role the family plays in transmitting the faith to younger generations. Msgr. Carlos Simón Vázquez Under-Secretary, Pontifical Council for the Family “We think that this is an excellent way to end the Year of Faith. This pilgrimage underlines how the family is the first and fundamental means of transmitting faith in the new millennium. It is where one lives faith, passes it on and witnesses it.” In the summer of 2012, World Day of Families in Milan was attended by nearly one million pilgr...

May 28, 2013. (Romereports.com) On June 2nd, Catholics worldwide will pray simultaneously. It will be a truly historic event: Pope Francis will lead the Eucharistic adoration in St Peter's Basilica, joined by the faithful in cathedrals all over the world. ARCH. RINO FISICHELLLA President, Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization “It will be a historic moment, because for an hour cathedrals throughout the world will be in communion with the Pope in Eucharistic adoration. We had a massive support to this initiative: it extends beyond the cathedrals and involves episcopal conferences, parishes and religious congregations, especially cloistered convents and associations.” It is going to be a simple celebration, with no speech or homily by the Pope. However, the Vatican will broadcast footage of the Basilica and connect with countries around the world. Prayer will take place between 5 and 6 PM Italian time (16.00-17.00 GMT). In Mexico, it will be at 10 am, in Iceland at 3 ...

A major highlight for the Year of Faith will be a two-day celebration in Rome on the Church’s teaching about the dignity of life and how it fits with the New Evangelization. Father Geno Sylva, the English-language official for the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, hopes the event will speak so clearly to the secular world that it is “going to have to listen and say, ‘well, there is a culture of life coming out of the Church.’” The June 15-16 international gathering will begin on Saturday morning with a catechesis session on “The Gospel of Life and the New Evangelization.” The event will “explore the enduring and timeless truths of Blessed John Paul II's 1995 encyclical, ‘Evangelium Vitae,’ and the central role that the Gospel of Life continues to have in the Church's mission of the New Evangelization,” according to organizers. More

March 25, 2013. (Romereports.com) In honor of the Year of Faith, the Shroud of Turin will be displayed once again inside the Dome of Turin on Holy Saturday, March 30. The last time it was put on display for the public was more than three years ago.   However, the visit is only open to a group of 300 made up of youths and people who are sick or disabled. It will also be broadcast live. When Benedict XVI visited the Shroud of Turin in 2010, he called it an “icon of Holy Saturday,” which is why the Archbishop of Turin decided to put it on display for the Year of Faith.

By Daniel Burke with Fr. John Bartunek , released November, 2012, Emmaus Road Publishing, Steubenville, Ohio, 161 pages. Paperback. Available from Navigating the Interior Life , EWTN Religious Catalogue,   Emmaus Road Publishing , Amazon , Barnes & Noble , Major book stores and Catholic book stores. Reviewed by Jean M. Heimann, M.A. in Theology, freelance writer, retired psychologist, and oblate with the Community of St. John. The great Dominican St. Vincent Ferrer once said: “A person who has a director by whom he allows himself to be guided, whom he obeys in all actions, great and small, will more easily and quickly arrive at perfection than he ever could by himself, even were he gifted with an extraordinary degree of intelligence and supplied with books explaining the nature of all virtues and the means of acquiring them.” As Catholics, we know that there is nothing more important in our present life than that of preparing for our future life. This is exactly what ...

Pope Benedict XVI's anticipated encyclical on faith will not be released before his resignation but it may appear in another form, according to the head of the Holy See's press office. “It remains an awaited document, but one that we will not have in the way we expected, perhaps we will have it in a different way,” Father Federico Lombardi said at a Feb.12 press meeting. The encyclical, he added, “will not be published before the end of the month, it was not in a state to be made public.” An encyclical on faith was expected sometime in the first six months of this year, to coincide with the Year of Faith. It was to have formed a trilogy of encyclicals on the theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. Read more.

February 7, 2013 (Romereports.com)  A unique art exhibit brings together for the first time 40 paintings on the life of Saint Peter, from museums all across the globe. The Vatican is hoping the works featuring the first Pope can serve as inspiration for the Year of Faith . FR. ALESSIO GERETTI Coordinator, “Peter's Journey” “Peter is a man with whom anyone can identify with, believers or no believers. Peter was enthused in recognizing Jesus as the son of God before others. But he was weak by denying him during the most critical time of the master's life.” Jan Brueghel the Elder, Luca Giordano, Simon Vouet, Mattia Preti and Eugène Bunard are just a few of the artists that throughout history have depicted Saint Peter and have showcased his commitment to God. FR. ALESSIO GERETTI Coordinator, “Peter's Journey” “Peter resembles us in many ways. So we thought to explain 'what is faith?' during the Year of Faith, we did not want an abstract definitio...

Fr. James Kubicki, S.J. from the Apostleship of Prayer has a beautiful post on his blog Truth and Charity about consecrating your family to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This is something my family has done with a group from our parish in church and we are so happy we did it. It is a faith commitment I recommend to everyone, particularly during this Year of Faith.

February 6, 2013. (Romereports.com) It's been about four months now, since the Pope launched the 'Year of Faith.' So the basic questions is, “How are things going so far?”Archbishop Rino Fisichella says, the initiative is meeting its goals, by renewing and strengthening the faith of Christians.     “There's a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the  Year of Faith. Above all it's an enthusiasm we can actually see in Christian communities, so in dioceses, parishes, lay movements and associations. It's an opportunity to reflect on the role faith plays and why it's important in  people's lives,” said Msgr. Rino Fisichella, the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. The Year of Faith started on October 11th, which actually coincided with the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council. The Year of Faith will run until November 24th, but there are still many surprises in store. MSGR. RINO FISICHELLA Presi...

February 4, 2013. (Romereports.com) This was the scene back in June, when about 850,000 people attended the World Meeting of Families in Milan. Now the Vatican is getting ready for the next big gathering in Philadelphia, where just as many, if not more are expected. MSGR. VINCENZO PAGLIA Pontifical Council for the Family, President “I think this meeting in Philadelphia will be a good way to help families, society, even politicians and those with roles in the cultural sector.” The gathering will be in September 2015. In fact, it will be the first one to take place in the U.S. Usually these events are attended by the Pope himself. During the press conference, Msgr. Paglia talked about the need to strengthen the family unit, through Christian values. He talked about power of a healthy family, but also about broken homes, delinquency rates among youths, gay marriage and extreme individualism.   MSGR. VINCENZO PAGLIA Pontifical Council for the Family, President ...

January 28, 2013. (Romereports.com) Benedict XVI met with the members of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, the highest appellate court for the Catholic Church. During his speech, he addressed the Year of Faith by talking about the relationship between faith and marriage. The Pope explained that the strength of a family is very closely tied to faith.   BENEDICT XVI “The current crisis of faith that affects various areas of the world, bearing with it a crisis of conjugal society, with all the suffering and discomfort that this bring upon the children.” The Pope explained that the lack of faith does not prevent a marriage from becoming valid, because the Church only requires that the union between husband and wife meets the traits of a “natural marriage.” Those traits are that it lasts for a lifetime, that it be open to life, and that they the good in each other. However, he also talked about the risks of having those traits of natural marriage severed by what he described as ...