"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever (John 6:54-58)."

Most Rev. Robert C. Morlino urges "perfect hatred" for sin and a return to holiness; will preside at a public Mass of reparation for “sins [...]

Six Catholic scholars and commentators reflect on the Holy Father's recent and controversial revision to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. [...]

Moving is disorienting, no matter how often a person has done it. Bruce and Bryant Hausfeld stopped in recently. They’ve moved so many times that they switch up the biblical phrase, “pilgrims and strangers” and describe themselves as “strange pilgrims”. Anytime a person changes residences, it does feel strange. As our Howell Street Friary moves to join Pleasant Street Friary, I’m returning to a neighborhood I knew long ago that is now quite different.

Vatican & World News at 4.30pm

Now, I fancy myself a pretty calm gal. But I dare anyone to drive two-hours-plus, each way, in gnarly urban traffic and stay completely One With Rama. I started out each day with the best intentions and love for my fellow man. But, dang!

Scripture for Life: Jesus' last words in today's Gospel offer the invitation to live forever. It's as though after five weeks of pondering the mystery of Jesus the bread of life, we are still not adequately prepared to come to a conclusion. 

Despite Irish Catholics' many misgivings about the sexual abuse scandals in the church and the treatment of women and LGBT people, there is much enthusiasm for the ninth World Meeting of Families, scheduled to take place Aug. 21-26 in Dublin.

According to the 1962 Missal of St. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the feast of St. Agapitus, a martyr of Palestrina, not far from Rome. His cult, which is very ancient, was particularly popular in the eternal city where Felix III (492) caused a church to be built in his honor. Ancient inscriptions show clearly the great confidence placed in the intercession of this martyr. It is also the feast of St. Helena, empress and mother of Constantine the Great. She discovered the True Cross in a rock-cistern near Mt. Calvary.

A new biography shows how twenty-first century Europe’s first martyr brought holiness to the ordinary. [...]

WASHINGTON – In an Aug. 16 interview with Eternal Word Television Network, Erie Bishop Lawrence T. Persico said the only way to regain the trust of the laity after decades-long claims of sexual abuse by priests and others at six Pennsylvania dioceses is by deeds and one of those deeds may mean getting rid of bishops who hid abusers.

During a report on EWTN's evening show, reporter Jason Calvi asks him: "Should bishops who knew about or covered up abuse resign?"

"I think they should," Bishop Persico answered. "I think we need complete transparency if we're going to get the trust of the people back. We have to be able to demonstrate it."

Bishop Persico was the only bishop who met in person with members of a grand jury investigating decades-long claims of abuse at six Pennsylvania dioceses. In an explosive report, the grand jury said it identified more than 1,000 who said they were victimized as children by priests and other church workers in the state.

"I've been saying, we can talk about transparency and truth, but much is going to depend upon our deeds, how do we carry that transparency out and how do we act moving forward?" he said during the TV interview. "That's going to be key to all of this and we have to show that we mean what we're saying."

Bishop Persico's Diocese of Erie, as well as the dioceses of Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton, Pittsburgh and Greensburg were named in the report released Aug. 14 after an investigation of almost two years.

A grand jury does not determine guilt or innocence but whether there may be enough evidence or probable cause to support a criminal charge. Almost all of the cases in the report were too old for charges to be filed and many of the 301 priests named are dead or no longer in ministry. But Catholic laity have been insisting on some form for accountability for those who may have known of and hidden the abuse.

"We need this transparency and we also need action, so that if there were other bishops or leaders that were negligent, then they need to be removed because the more we cover up, the less credibility we have," Bishop Persico said.

He said it was important to note that the report documented 70 years of abuse, most of it from 1970s into the 1990s. Following the sex abuse crisis in 2000 in the U.S., the country's bishops in 2002 approved procedures and protocols for addressing allegations of abuse.

"There's less (abuse)" since then, Bishop Persico said, "but we still have to be on guard."

In an interview with CNN's "New Day" news show Aug. 17, Bishop Timothy L. Doherty of Lafayette in Indiana, who is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, answered questions about how it was possible that given the procedures and protocols set in 2002, abuse seems to continue.

As allegations of sexual abuse by former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick came light this summer, the procedures have come under fire because they contained no provisions for holding bishops accountable, leading many to ask whether they were enough because the church continues to deal with similar situations.

"I think all the bishops are asking that question and part of it is, there isn't a great explanation," said Bishop Doherty on the news show. "We're still looking at the facts here. I could speak for bishops of my era and I know we came in without knowing much about this and having a great trust in our church and people that we work with, and so this is devastating."

But because this has come out in the public, "a light has been shined on part of the culture that allowed this to happen and there is a great resolve not to let it happen again," he said.

VATICAN – In the wake of a grand jury report on clergy sexual abuse in six dioceses in Pennsylvania, a Vatican spokesman called the abuses described in the report as being "criminal and morally reprehensible."

"Victims should know that the Pope is on their side. Those who have suffered are his priority, and the church wants to listen to them to root out this tragic horror that destroys the lives of the innocent," said Greg Burke, head of the Vatican press office, in a written statement Aug. 16.

"Those acts were betrayals of trust that robbed survivors of their dignity and their faith. The church must learn hard lessons from its past, and there should be accountability for both abusers and those who permitted abuse to occur," he wrote.

"The Holy See condemns unequivocally the sexual abuse of minors," Burke wrote and, as such, "the Holy See encourages continued reform and vigilance at all levels of the Catholic Church, to help ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults from harm."

"The Holy See also wants to underscore the need to comply with the civil law, including mandatory child abuse reporting requirements," he added.

The statement, sent in Italian with unofficial English and Spanish translations, came after the Pennsylvania attorney general held a news conference Aug. 14 announcing a 900-page report detailing decades of child sexual abuse by 301 priests, who harmed more than 1,000 victims.

In response the report, Burke said, "there are two words that can express the feelings faced with these horrible crimes: shame and sorrow."

"The Holy Father understands well how much these crimes can shake the faith and the spirit of believers and reiterates the call to make every effort to create a safe environment for minors and vulnerable adults in the church and in all of society," the spokesman said.

More than 140 theologians, educators and lay leaders have called for all U.S. bishops to submit their resignations to Pope Francis, much like Chile's 34 bishops did in May after revelations of sexual abuse and corruption, as a public act of penance and a "willing abdication of earthly status."

The U.S. bishops' call for an apostolic visitation and lay-involved investigations into abuse and cover-ups was called a "good start," but at least one former National Review Board member called it "too little, too late."

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on recent criticisms of Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington: It is one thing for the laity to be angry about recent revelations regarding former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, and the Pennsylvania grand jury report on molesting priests (which is riddled with lies), it is quite another to allow emotion, [...]

 WASHINGTON— Following a visit to Nicaragua last week, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, Chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Conference Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued the following statement today conveying the Church in America's support for the Nicaraguan bishops' efforts to work for peace and justice in Nicaragua.

In his statement, Archbishop Broglio of the Military Services, USA said, "I see the commitment of your bishops as a sign of God's love" and that the U.S. bishops with the bishops of Nicaragua "walk in the service of truth, of the poor, and of peace."

Archbishop Broglio's full statement follows: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/global-issues/latin-america-caribbean/nicaragua/statement-by-archbishop-broglio-on-visit-to-nicaragua-2018-08-17.cfm

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Keywords: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Archbishop Broglio, Nicaragua, justice, peace

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Media Contact:

Judy Keane

202-541-3200

One is a Somali immigrant who came to the U.S. at age 12, knowing no English. The other is the eldest daughter of Palestinian immigrants who worked her way through college and law school. Both have a strong chance of serving in the 116th U.S. Congress.

San Diego Bishop Robert McElroy has responded to a letter he received two years ago from the late clergy abuse survivor advocate Richard Sipe, in which the psychotherapist had listed about a dozen priests and bishops he said had abused children.

Now more than ever, the laity need to speak with a united voice. We must turn our anger into resolve. We must insist on full lay participation in all efforts at reform. We must demand that bishops claim their true vocations as servants to the people of God. 

Two days after Pennsylvania officials unveiled  a report detailing accusations that Catholic priests had sexually abused more than 1,000 children since the 1940s and that church officials shielded the abusers, Catholics are expressing dismay.