BIG C CATHOLICS

Fr. John Bartunek and Dan Burke talk about how we can join with Christ in the redemption of the world through our suffering.

14:05 Benedict XVI is due to arrive in Castel Gandolfo at 17:30 (CET).   It is still not known exactly how many cardinals will be present at the Conclave, especially as some are ill. 13.50 Benedict will send his last tweet at 17:00 (CET). During the sede vacante period, Benedict XVI’s Twitter account will be frozen until a successor is chosen. 13:49 CTV and Telepace will give live coverage of the Pope’s departure When Benedict XVI’s papacy comes to a formal end this evening at 20:00 (CET), “the gates to Castel Gandolfo will be drawn shut” and in the Vatican “the papal apartment and the lift that leads directly to the apartment will be sealed off, that is all as far as I know,” the director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi said during this morning’s press conference. He also said the closing of the gates at Castel Gandolfo will be broadcast live by CTV. Media statistics: There are 3641 journalists accredited by the Holy See Press Office, representing 96

Ratzinger will still be addressed as “Your Holiness” and is to be given the title “Pope Emeritus” when he steps down from the Throne of St. Peter. He will wear a simple white cassock but will no longer be able to wear the red papal shoes. The first Congregation of Cardinals will be held on 4 March Joseph Ratzinger will be keeping his papal name when he leaves the Throne of Peter after 8 pm on 28 February: he will keep the name Benedict XVI and the title “His Holiness” and will be called 'Pope Emeritus' or 'Roman Pontiff Emeritus'. During a press conference this morning, the Vatican’s spokesman explained that Ratzinger will continue to wear the “simple white” papal cassock, but without the shoulder cape. Fr. Lombardi also said he would no longer wear the red papal shoes. “The Pope did have a brown pair as well – the spokesman explained – and was particularly fond of a pair of shoes that were given to him as a gift in Leon, during his trip to Mexico in 2012. ANDREA

I n Exodus 3:1-2 it is written: Meanwhile Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock beyond the wilderness, he came to the mountain of God, Horeb. There the angel of the L ORD  appeared to him as fire flaming out of a bush. When he looked, although the bush was on fire, it was not being consumed. The burning bush in which God appeared to Moses did not consume itself. This is a miracle precisely because the fire did not harm, alter or otherwise disfigure the plant in any way. Moses was rightly amazed. So to, throughout Scripture, whenever God intervenes in human affairs the people he touches are never destroyed or compromised. God never takes away free will when acting on the human stage. Just like the fire did not destroy the bush.   Consider the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God. While consenting to be the Christ bearer in no way was her freedom or her personhood compromised. This is the case even in regard to he

The Pope has told an estimated 100,000 at St Peter's Square he would continue to serve the Catholic Church even after he resigns on Thursday, becoming the first pontiff in 700 years to willingly do so. In his last Sunday blessing from a window overlooking the giant key-shaped piazza, the 85-year-old Pope said he was not "abandoning the Church" by his decision to retire to a former nunnery inside the walls of the Vatican. To applause and cheering from the crowd, he said he had been "called" by God to devote himself to a quiet life of prayer and reflection. "But this doesn't mean abandoning the church," he told the crowds packed into St Peter's as they held up banners which read "Grazie" (thank you) and waved flags from Italy, Brazil, Romania, France and a dozen other countries. Three nuns in beige wimples clutched a large banner which read "Viva Il Papa", a group of French Catholics had a placard which said &q

10. Clerical Celibacy is a Doctrine If the Church decides to let priests marry in the near future this myth is no doubt going to cause a great deal of damage as cries of "changed doctrine" cry through the anti-Catholic community. Simply put it is a utilitarian discipline adopted in the fourth century. The Church merely chooses clergy from men who are willing to remain celibate so that they can better dedicate themselves to the Church without as much spiritual or temporal issues and distractions. 9. The Church Sold Out By Accepting Evolution The issue of Fundamentalism so grave that I have already dedicated an entire note to it. The simple truth is that when you have Church theologians raising the possibility of an allegorical Genesis as far back as the third century, it isn't selling out when you accept scientific evidence that confirms those ideas. 8. The Church Supported Nazi Germany Henry IV at Canossa, Bismarck and the Kulturkampf, it is a trage

The Catholic Church from the time of Christ onward has always concerned itself with the poor. Christ Himself was born poor, lived poor and died poor. His ministry seemed to single out the impoverished. Pope Gregory the Great invited indigents to dine at the papal table. But the question of social justice has proven to be a thornier issue in modern times. Mother Teresa’s efforts to support society’s outcasts were prodigious and uncontroversial, but even she was not without her critics. The likes of Dorothy Day, and more recently, liberation theologians who take a more activist approach to social justice questions have proven more controversial. The idea of building the “City of God” here on earth, while noble, is something only God can truly accomplish. Loosing site of this, and the humility it brings, has caused the downfall of many a social justice movement. We should not make gods out of men. We should not make idols out of causes – no matter how well intentioned they may be. Ch