Catholic leaders in Belarus celebrated the annual week dedicated to Christian unity by gathering and breaking bread with local heads of Orthodox, Lutheran and other other Christian denominations. Read the full post here.
What is the basis for the “treasury of merit” and indulgences? These can be explained in the following ten steps.
Today, January 28th, is the feast day of one of the Church’s greatest theologians, Thomas Aquinas (c.1224-1274). For his penetrating syntheses of faith and reason, nature and grace, and speculative, practical and spiritual theology, he is known as the doctor communis, the Common Doctor among the bright and God-consumed minds of the Catholic tradition.
True Christian unity, the Pope continued, “cannot be realized only at the level of organizational structures,” but must be forged among the faithful, “confessing the one faith, celebrating divine worship in common, and keeping the fraternal harmony of the family of God.” Read the full story here.
From the letter Cum, sicut ex to Sigurd, Archbishop of Nidaros (a city in Norway), July 8, 1241: Since as we have learned from your report, it sometimes happens because of the scarcity of water, that infants of your lands are baptized in beer, we reply to you in the tenor of those present that, since [...]
I heard a story in seminary of a pastor who made late night visits to a local diner when he couldn’t sleep. Prostitutes frequently visited the diner and the pastor couldn’t help overhearing some of their conversations as he sat reading. He was grieved as he gathered bits and pieces of these women’s tragic lives. [...]
According to St. Thomas, integrity (or perfection) is one of the three marks of beauty. The other two are harmony (or proportion) and radiance (or brightness). 1 The term ‘integrity’ is closely related to and directly implies unity; for without unity, integrity is impossible. We derive the word ‘integrate’ from the word integrity, and integration [...]
Where is the Catholic Church? If you are curious then I might first suggest that you try this exercise: If you live in a small town, go to the corner store on the main street and ask the first people you meet, ‘Where is the Catholic Church?’ If you live in a big city, go [...]
We here at Called to Communion are happy to announce the second annual essay contest in preparation for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Readers may remember that we held this contest last year in order to facilitate dialogue at a time when the Catholic Church encourages all Christians to pray for the reunion [...]
One of the great parts of working on Called to Communion is getting to know Protestants who are truly seeking to understand the Catholic faith. Sadly enough, there are many Catholics in greater need of a fundamental understanding of Catholicism than many of our Protestant readers. But fortunately for all concerned, Fr. Robert Barron, professor [...]
