CNA: Church must evangelize humbly, Pope Francis reflects

In humility and in charity... the homily was addressed to "members of the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops at Casa Santa Marta," and not to lay people in general.

"Also present at the Mass were Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, and police from the Vatican Gendarmerie, Vatican Radio reported."

Zenit: Pope Francis: Prepare Your Hearts For the Heavenly Homeland

Wednesday's audience: Pope Francis: “The Church is not a bureaucratic organization, but a love story”

From earlier this week: Pope's Homily on Feast of St. George

More from Sandro Magister on the need to reform the Curia: Vatican Diary / Future curia, old project

John R. Quinn, archbishop emeritus of San Francisco, has an opinion, one which he voiced before the conclave as well: American archbishop advocates new power-sharing structures in the Catholic Church - John R. Quinn advocates the expansion of the patriarchal structure in the Catholic Church and the attribution of decision making power to the synod of bishops, to remedy excessive centralization and strengthen communion

More from Bishop Quinn:
THE CLAIMS OF THE PRIMACY AND THE COSTLY CALL TO UNITY (alt)

The Reform of the Papacy

I have a post on beatitude of the blessed in heaven, but haven't had the time to finish it, even though it will be a rather short post. I've been busy trying to do other things.

Rethinking Religious Liberty by Benjamin Wiker
Why religious liberty cannot mean the right to believe whatever we want.

If the National Government is committed to enforcing secularism, then how should Catholics respond?

Also of note: Germain Grisez and Patrick Lee continue to defend the use of "brain death" to judge when a person is dead: Total Brain Death: Valid Criterion of Death
by Patrick Lee and Germain Grisez

I found this while doing a search for an argument against this, from a Thomistic pov. It appears to be such an attempt: A Thomistic understanding of human death by Jason T. Eberl (If you have the relevant subscription or institutional access, here is the article online.)

CNA: Pope's plans for encyclical, travel disclosed by David Uebbing

At Christendom College: Dr. Ken Grasso to Deliver Lecture on Church and State Relations

Dr. Ken Grasso will deliver a lecture entitled “The Freedom of the Church and the Taming of the State: The Christian Revolution, Western Liberty & the Rise of the New Leviathan” to the students and faculty of Christendom College at 4 p.m. in St. Kilian’s Café on April 29. This lecture will be part of the college’s Faith & Reason Lecture Series.

Perhaps a version of this will be published somewhere (if it hasn't been already).

His faculty page.

"Pascha"

Pascha: The New Passover
V. Rev. Fr. Anastasios Gounaris
Dean, Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, New York City

Fr. Z: Theologian responds to Archbp. Marini’s less than helpful comment on same-sex unions

CNA interviewed Fr. Rhonheimer --

“Conferring legal equality to same-sex unions signifies to publicly establish, in the law system, the principle of dissociation of sexuality and procreation,” he explained in an April 22 telephone interview with CNA.

Archbishop Piero Marini explicitly denied that same-sex unions should be equal to marriage between a man and a woman. So the CNA article is a bit misleading, as it sets up a strawman argument... the question is, rather, whether same-sex civil unions should be recognized as such at all. (Or whether one can be conferred certain rights, without any sort of legal recognition of a sexual relationship. While liberals or individualists might think so, one can ask whether the rights of others, e.g. family members, are prior to that of someone who is not related by blood, a friend, or a same-sex "lover.")

Spero News: Novices Enter Russian Catholic Monastery in Rome

To Promote In Order to Remove

It may "save face," but maybe it isn't such a wise idea. Then again, maybe turning the papacy into a bureaucracy isn't a wise idea, either.

Fr. Z: Former papal MC comes out for same-sex unions, trashes Benedict XVI’s pontificate

Holy Mass on the occasion of Priestly Ordinations

From yesterday...


Re: the use of Latin - if the bishop of the Church of Rome, which should pride Latin above all other churches, does not think that the continued use of Latin in the liturgy is worthwhile, then why should anyone else care about it?

Rome Reports: Religious Liberty still a problem, 1700 years after the 'Edict of Milan' was signed

Rome Reports: Cardinal Cañizares: "We wanted to choose the Pope that God had chosen"

Divine Liturgy in St. Peters with Pope John Paul II

Via ByzCath

Byzantine, Texas: Ukrainian Greek Catholic Patriarch visits Phanar

Rome Reports: Pope Francis meets with president of Ecuador and shows his 'environmentally friendly' side

On the bishop's staff (in the Byzantine rite): Orthodox Arts Journal (via Byzantine, Texas - the explanation goes beyond Moses.

Reforming the College of Cardinals?

George Weigel has some recommendations (via Vatican Insider)

No radical suggestions here (with respect to re-imagining the exercise of the papacy).

John Tavis: Pope Francis on the risk of a 'babysitter' church
Pope Francis: to evangelize baptism is enough

More:
Francis: We Must Submit to the Holy Spirit
Francis and Vatican II: “There's no turning back”

The Unprecedented "Presumption" of Changing the World

Vatican Diary / Collegiality yes, democracy no

Simonopetra Monastery - Psalm 18

Thomistica.net: CUA Press to Distribute Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University's Books

Ignatius Press had been the distributor; fiscal or sound business reasons for this change (not renewing the contract?) or is this another consequence of the falling-out between AMU and Fr. Fessio?

Becoming a Dominican

Province of St. Joseph: Formation Process