Italian Diocese Expands Women’s Roles in Church Administration. Worse than Germany: The Italian Diocese of Trapani, is increasingly appointing laypeople - including women - to formal Curia and diocesan roles as the number of priests declines. The diocese now has fewer than 100 diocesan priests and is bringing in priests from Madagascar, Tanzania, and religious institutes to fill parish vacancies. Among the most significant appointments, lawyer Susanna Catalano has been named the diocese’s second vice-chancellor. Four lay Catholics will receive the instituted ministry of catechist, including two women, Francesca Messina and Caterina Vesco.
Trapani, mancano i preti ma crescono i laici in Curia: Fragnelli cerca sacerdoti all’estero e nomina la seconda vicecancelliera
A depiction of Our Lady by Romanian artist Teodora Axente has sparked controversy in Siena, Italy. The Virgin on this year's Palio banner os androgynous and departs from any Marian iconography. The Municipality of Siena commissioned Axente to create the Drappellone, the painted silk banner awarded to the winning contrada, one of Siena's historic districts, in the city's centuries-old Palio horse race. Axente was appointed by the city government on the proposal of Mayor Nicoletta Fabio. The banner was unveiled on August 10. It places the Virgin above Siena and its contrade, protecting the Golden Rose associated with Pope Pius II, and commemorates the 500th anniversary of the 1526 Battle of Camollia. Axente called the figure her personal vision of the Madonna and said the figures in the work were “more androgynous” and therefore “universal characters.” On August 13, the Archdiocese of Siena published a statement by Father Enrico Grassini, rector of the Collegio dei Correttori. He rejected …badan
Bishop Athanasius Schneider has issued his first public statement since Leo XIV declared six FSSPX bishops excommunicated on July 2, published on Diane Montagna's Substack. Schneider had previously appealed for liturgical peace, meeting with Pope Leo XIV in December 2025 and Cardinal Parolin a little over a week before the July 1 episcopal consecration. Bishop Schneider's central claim: in an extraordinary Church crisis, fidelity to unambiguous doctrine and traditional liturgy can outweigh obedience to ecclesiastical law. He opens with St. Athanasius, excommunicated by Pope Liberius in 357 for refusing communion with Arian bishops the Pope himself had recognized under imperial pressure. Athanasius was later canonized as a Doctor of the Church; Liberius was never canonized. Schneider treats Écône as a modern parallel — a forced choice between canonical obedience and doctrinal integrity. Bishop Schneider blames two distortions for narrowing this question: "legalism" (treating Church law …badan
Poor Jesus. Just as there is nothing sacred in dancing on Calvary, there is nothing sacred in jumping in the presence of Jesus in the holy sacrament. One more hireling leading the flock astray.
During a secret Vatican consultation in 2016, six voters didn't simply doubt the Medjugorje apparitions but reportedly concluded that the devil was behind the phenomenon, Italian journalist David Murgia reported August 17 on IlSegnoDiGiona.com. Six participants in the confidential consultation of the Vatican's then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded that Medjugorje could not be explained without the “original, direct and foundational intervention” of the Evil One. Three of the six were reportedly cardinals. In Murgia's account, they considered Medjugorje not a “Mariophany” - an appearance of Mary - but a “Satanophany.” Their proposed judgment was constat de praeternaturalitate maligna: essentially, a finding of malign preternatural origin. The six were part of a larger group of 33 Church figures who submitted opinions on Medjugorje in 2016. According to Murgia, 21 rejected a supernatural origin, nine favored it, and three remained undecided. The six who attributed the …badan
Cardinal Pizzaballa Visited Taybeh, West Bank: On August 15, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa visited the Christian community of Taybeh in the West Bank, amid Israeli military restrictions on access to the area. “We will continue to do everything in our power to preserve the ecclesial presence here, at every level of the Holy Land,” he said. He also urged Christians to defend their rights without giving in to fear or despair: “We do not want to give up or abandon our rights, our right to life. So be courageous. Do not be afraid.” He also warned against allowing the conflict to shape the community internally.
Pastor John Cao served every day of his seven-year prison sentence. Now he's fighting stage 4 cancer, and China still will not let him come home to his family in the US. Please join me in petitioning President Trump to personally raise Pastor Cao’s case with President Xi on Sept. 24. Add your name and help bring Pastor Cao home: Help Bring Pastor John Cao Home#BringCaoHome
While I hope the best for Mr. Cao, and agree that he needs our prayers, it would be completely inappropriate to pray for his intentions. He is a schismatic heretic, and hence his intentions would not be that people join the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church, but rather that people follow a schismatic and heretical path that will lead them not to eternal life but to perdition. . To clarify his situation, he is not a citizen of the United States, he is a citizen of China. After being duly prosecuted under Chinese law, and while in prison, his passport (Chinese, of course) expired. Because of his violation of Chinese law and subsequent conviction, his hukou was revoked, and he has been denied a passport renewal. I don't quite see how a diplomatic request by President Trump or anyone else would be perceived by the Chinese as anything other than interference in Chinese affairs.
US Sisters and the Macarena Retirement Tour: The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) held its 70th anniversary gathering in Orlando, Florida, from 11 to 14 August. They posted a video on Facebook showing elderly women in civilian clothes dancing the Macarena (1995). The fitting headline: "When Catholic sisters get together, watch out for the dance parties! ". Macarena was popular when the sisters were in their 50s. The LCWR represents the leaders of many women's religious congregations in the United States.
Dance party of "nuns": The LCWR 70th Anniversary Gathering was held August 11–14, 2026, in Orlando, Florida. The event brought together Catholic women and men religious from the United States, Canada, Latin America and other parts of the Americas for prayer, worship, talks, discussion and community events.
And you wonder why vocations to the nunnery have collapsed. People who have a religious vocation take their lives seriously and look for serious opportunities
2. Historical Context and "Dance Manias" Catholic history records instances where mass dancing was interpreted through the lens of spiritual affliction or divine punishment. [1, 2] St. Vitus’ Dance (Chorea): In the Middle Ages, outbreaks of compulsive, uncontrollable dancing (now understood as a neurological or psychological phenomenon) swept through Europe. [1, 2, 3, 4] Spiritual Intercession: Victims were sent to shrines of St. Vitus, a Christian martyr, to pray for deliverance and healing from what many at the time feared was a demonic curse or affliction. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] 3. Ritual Dancing and Entry Points Catholic moral theology warns against practices that willingly open a person up to the influence of evil spirits. Trance Induction: Repetitive, frenzied, or rhythmic dancing used in occult or neo-pagan rituals is designed to lower conscious defenses and alter the state of mind. [1, 2, 3] The Danger of Invitation: Exorcists warn that participating in dances meant to invoke …badan
Leo XIV’s Peru Visit Prepared By Pachamama Offering: On 13–14 August, “Entrelazando Voces por la Dignidad,” a regional gathering of social organizations and Indigenous communities, took place in Cusco, Peru. Spanish-language outlets, including Vatican News, linked it to preparations for Pope Leo XIV’s November visit. Bishop Lizardo Estrada Herrera, auxiliary bishop of Cusco and CELAM secretary-general, inaugurated the gathering; Bishop Miguel Ángel Cadenas of Iquitos also attended. InfoVaticana video shows the event opening with an Andean offering to Pachamama/Mother Earth. Participants received coca leaves, performed guided breathing, blew three times on the leaves, and placed them with food offerings in bowls on the ground. Bishop Estrada is shown adding coca leaves to the offering. Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, Vatican official overseeing the dissolution of the community Sodalitium, also took part, placing coca leaves in the offering.
Un comisario pontificio y un obispo depositan coca en un «pago a la tierra»: Jordi Bertomeu oferente a la Pachamama
3 U.S. Dioceses Are Booming With Priests Despite a Global Decline | SG News While priestly vocations continue to face challenges across many parts of the world, three U.S. dioceses are offering a strikingly different story: Charlotte, Wichita, and Arlington. What is happening in these Catholic communities? From Eucharistic adoration and vibrant parish life to faith-filled families, strong Catholic formation, and priests who joyfully invite young men to consider their vocation, these dioceses are showing what can happen when a culture actively encourages a call to the priesthood. In this video, we explore the factors behind their growing number of priestly vocations and the lessons other Catholic communities may be able to learn. Could these dioceses offer a blueprint for a new generation of Catholic vocations? Watch and discover the story. Stay Updated with @SGNEWS-SG – Faith, Society & Global Christian Perspective
Bishop Strickland has a doubt about a possible continuity between the Concile of Vatican 2 and St Pius X magisterium : " If there is continuity, it should be possible to demonstrate it clearly."
Bishop Strickland about modernism within the Church of Leo XIV My dear friends in Christ, Thank you for joining me today. There are some words that once occupied a central place in the life of the Catholic Church but are now seldom heard, and I want to talk about one of those words today. The word is “modernism.” Ask the average Catholic today what modernism is, and many will not know how to answer. Ask when they last heard a sermon about it, and many would say, “Never.” Yet there was a time when the Church regarded modernism as such a grave danger that Pope St. Pius X devoted an entire encyclical to exposing it. In 1907, in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, he called modernism “the synthesis of all heresies.” Those are extraordinary words. Popes do not use language like that lightly. If St. Pius X believed modernism was the synthesis of all heresies, then a question naturally follows: What happened? Did modernism simply disappear? Or have we reached a point where the Church’s own warnings …badan
Rev Michael Andrade of the parish Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Clovis, California, in the Diocese of Fresno, and his vicar Joseph Klinge performed and danced in cassocks during the parish’s Annual Derby Dance Auction on May 2. The event, held in the parish school auditorium, featured the song “Livin’ on a Prayer” and an Elvis Presley impersonation by Rev Andrade.
These are Fr. Michael Andrade and Fr. Joseph Klinge dancing in the school auditorium of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Clovis, California. Fr. Andrade is its pastor and Fr. Klinge its vicar. The event – the Annual Derby Dance Auction – took place on May 2, 2026. The music in the shows included the song Livin on a Prayer, performed by both ecclesiastics, above and below, as well as an impersonation of Elvis Presley done by Fr. Andrade.
Not against having fun blowing off steam but Rock and Roll is designed as music for play for fornication the rhythm is Rock & Roll is slang for sex thus gyration induced mimics sex.
Every 29 June, within St Peter’s Basilica, one of the most striking Catholic traditions returns. The vesting of the statue of Saint Peter, including the cope and the tiara.
Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers of Essen, the German Bishops' Conference's commissioner for homosexual propaganda, has urged Catholic parishes to become places where homosexuals can live "without fear". Writing on Kirche-und-Leben.de on August 2, Bishop Schepers commented on the recent deadly attack during Berlin's homosexual march. "Our parishes must be places where every person is welcome and experiences the inalienable dignity that God has given them. No one should ever have to fear prejudice, distrust, or rejection because of their sexual orientation or gender identity." He attacked the Church, claiming gratuitously that she "has not always been a safe place for queer people," adding that biblical passages had too often been taken "out of context" and used against them. Ludger Schepers contrasts what he calls "the Gospel's message of unconditional love" with "the experience of many queer people". This contradiction calls Catholics "to repent". Looking to the global Church, Bishop …badan
"Our parishes must be places where every person is welcome and experiences the inalienable dignity that God has given them. No one should ever have to fear prejudice, distrust, or rejection because of their sexual orientation or gender identity." "Our hen house must be places where every fox is welcome and experiences the inalienable dignity that God has given them. No fox should ever have to fear being prejudiced, distrusted, or rejected because of their hunger or their killer instinct.”
Question: Based on all going issues since Benedict XVI resigned from ministerium and not from munus, how one can consider Bergoglio and Prevost were/are true popes? Canon 332 §2 of the 1983 Code states plainly: Si contingat ut Romanus Pontifex muneri suo renuntiet, ad validitatem requiritur ut renuntiatio libere fiat et rite manifestetur, non vero ut a quopiam acceptetur. "If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his munus, it is required for validity that the resignation be freely made and properly manifested, but it is not necessary that it be accepted by anyone." The canon uses munus — not ministerium, not officium, not any other term. Munus in the canonical tradition carries the weight of the office itself: the ontological reality, the gift-and-burden of the Petrine charge, not merely its active exercise. On February 11, 2013, Benedict XVI declared in Latin: ...declaro me ministerio Episcopi Romae, Successoris Sancti Petri, mihi per manus Cardinalium die 19 aprilis MMV …badan
Leo XIV Promoted This Hopping, Dancing Bishop in Mexico: In January 2026, Pope Leo XIV appointed Monsignor Trinidad Antonio Márquez Guerrero, 60, as auxiliary bishop of San Juan de los Lagos, Mexico. He was consecrated a bishop on May 8. On Sunday, July 19, he celebrated a Eucharist during the diocesan Youth Day in the bullring in Yahualica, attended by some 1,300 young people. Still wearing his mitre and liturgical vestments, he started hopping and dancing around like an overexcited young person.
Y luego nos preguntamos por qué algunos católicos se van con los lefebvristas...