There is a tendency nowadays to depict saints as people who bypass the realities of life and somehow attain sanctity with little effort. Here we have two pictures of Saint Anthony of Padua. The first is a fresco in the basilica dedicated to the saint in Padua, Italy, and it is the oldest known depiction of the great thirteenth century apostle and miracle worker. In this picture, we see a powerfully built Franciscan, his expression young though mature, serious and determined. The second is a holy card bought in the souvenir shop of the same basilica. This depiction is obviously not inspired by the fresco. Here we see a delicate, rosy cheeked young man, his face devoid of the natural masculinity necessarily brought on by the preacher’s arduous life. His is sentimental, of soft countenance, devoid of the personality and strength of character necessary for climbing the mountain of perfection. Anthony was born Ferdinand of Bouillon of a Portuguese noble family. Early in life he engaged in …More
Ancient Chaldean Church vandalized in Northern Iraq: The historic Mar Kiriakos Chaldean Catholic Church in the village of Sharanish, near Zakho in northern Iraq, was recently vandalized. Videos released in mid-June 2026 show damage inside the church. Mar Kiriakos, believed to be more than 400 years old, is one of two historic Chaldean Catholic churches in Sharanish. No perpetrators have yet been publicly identified.
Ancient Chaldean Church vandalized in Northern Iraq | Shalom World News An ancient witness of Chaldean Christian faith in Iraq has been desecrated in Sharanish, a historic Christian village near Zakho, close to the Iraq–Turkey border. Video from inside Mar Kiriakos Church shows extensive vandalism, with sacred spaces damaged and church property destroyed. The incident has left the local community mourning the incident, which is another blow to a village that has endured years of instability and displacement. Sharanish, home to the Chaldean churches of Mart Shmune and Mar Kiriakos, remains a symbol of the ancient Christian presence in Mesopotamia. As investigations continue, the faithful hold on to a message carried through centuries: a wounded church can still be a living testimony of faith.
Churches in communion with Rome Who are the Christians of Iraq? A long history … After periods of Mongol, Turkoman, and Safavid rule, Mesopotamia fell under the Ottomans, whose empire lasted until the First World War in the early 20th century. It was during the Ottoman period that the East and West Syriac Churches – the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Syriac (or Syrian) Catholic Church, respectively – were formed. The Syriac Catholic Church was created when a Jacobite patriarch united with Rome in the 18th century. The Bishops who did not enter into full communion with Rome formed the Syriac Orthodox Church. Today’s Chaldean Catholic Church dates from 1830, when the historical patriarchate of the Church of the East was united with an earlier Chaldean branch created in the 17th century. An even-earlier Chaldean union from the 16th century subsequently separated from Rome and developed into what are today the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East. Rich history …More
Recently, Archbishop Davide Carbonaro of the Archdiocese of Potenza–Muro Lucano–Marsico Nuovo, Italy, conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation at the Roman parish of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP).
Sua Eccellenza Reverendissima Monsignor Davide Carbonaro ha conferito il sacramento della Cresima presso la Parrocchia della Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini a Roma, affidata alla Fraternità Sacerdotale San Pietro (FSSP).
Leo XIV intends to visit Peru during the first half of November, Peruvian President José María Balcázar announced following a private audience with the Pope. Peru would be the centerpiece of a broader South American tour that may also include Argentina and Uruguay. Although the Vatican has not yet published an official itinerary, Balcázar said Leo XIV personally confirmed that he plans to be in Peru in November. The proposed itinerary would include Lima, Chiclayo, Piura, Pucallpa and Cusco, with additional visits to Puno and Iquitos also under consideration. The visit could last between eight and ten days. Balcázar said Peru has offered helicopters to assist the Pope in reaching remote towns in northern Peru and the Amazon region, reflecting his desire to visit as many local communities as possible. Argentina, the homeland of Francis, was never visited by him during his thirteen years as pope. A visit by Leo XIV would mark the first papal trip to Argentina since 1987. In Uruguay, …More
The problems they are causing Russia is never ending. And Russia still remains human and not destroy the world for all the abuse they give them for many decades.
@giveusthisday Everyone and anyone who wants to wipe the Russian people out. NATO, EU, US Remember when lindsey graham said, best money we ever spent killing Russians. They said that zelensky edited it. When in fact he did say it. But said two different things at two different times. But he did say it. They have 40 or 50 biolabs in Ukraine. That's 1/3 of the labs in the world. Placed in Ukraine. I posted about it as well as others. They are there specifically to kill and wipe out the Russian people. It's all been planned long ago. At first to destroy and break up Russia. Now it's just to wipe them out. All because President Putin AND the Russian people will not join the ranks of evil. I just posted a bit about it about a half hour ago. Father Gruner and John Vennari. But we know those things will never happen. But they with their hatred and pride think they can.
Bishop Mutsaerts Has Recovered. Dutch Auxiliary Bishop Rob Mutsaerts' lingering injuries mainly consist of a complicated fracture to his arm and elbow. He told Michael Matt, who described his recovery as incredible given the state of the car after the accident. Bishop Mutsaerts attributes this extraordinary recovery to his Guardian Angel and the prayers of his many concerned friends. The bishop crashed his car into a tree on 9 May.
The homosexual group Outreach, founded and led by the homosexual activist James Martin SJ, organises its annual conference on June 19-21 at the Jesuit-run Georgetown University. From 2021 to 2024, Francis sent an endorsement message. In 2026, two US Cardinals support the homosexual conference. Outreach published endorsement letters by Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago (below). Cardinal McElroy wrote on June 19 that he is “delighted” to welcome the homosexual group in Washington, adding: “For I know that the Holy Spirit will be profoundly present in our meetings and discussions at this key time in the history of our Church and our nation.” He wrote that the conference is taking place “at a moment when the pastoral foundations laid by Pope Francis for authentic ministry to and with the LGBT community are being deepened and refined by Pope Leo.” Cardinal McElroy further stressed that the conference comes “directly after the release of Study …More
Iranian woman in Sweden: "Pedophilia is legal in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Little girls are married off to adult men. We are trying to raise awareness, but Western feminists are completely ignoring us."
Another Mixed Bag Arrives In my last article I concluded that perhaps the title “Vicar of the Zeitgeist” was a bit timid. Then came the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas—if a 188-page book can even be called a “circular” (from the Greek enkyklios). Issued on the 135th anniversary of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, Magnifica Humanitas (MH) has promptly elicited numerous critical appraisals, for after all we live in an epoch in which every papal document is anticipated with dread by anyone who still retains a memory of the unreconstructed Catholic religion and the teaching of the great pre-Vatican II Popes and their collective defiant nay to the spirit of the age which, so they warned us again and again, threatened the destruction of whatever was left of Christian civilization. In what has become the customary mode of postconciliar Vatican documents—that is, the Modernist mode—Magnifica Humanitas (MH) manages to further the de facto abandonment of the divine commission in the midst of …
Natural England and MPs are urging the government to change its livestock rules to stop ponies on Dartmoor from potentially being culled. Semi-wild ponies have roamed Dartmoor for more than 4,000 years and have become uniquely suited to the boggy landscape, providing a charming sight for those who visit the national park. There was therefore widespread outrage after reports that the government quango Natural England could cause a cull of up to 90% of the ponies, with the Conservative party calling for the government body to be reviewed and possibly stripped of its powers. However, sources at the quango say it is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra) policy that is at fault, as it fails to differentiate between sheep and ponies. Because the barren moors are so overgrazed, putting species including rare birds and butterflies at risk as there is no food or nesting sites for them, Natural England said there should be an aim to destock the moors by 76%. Natural …
Do not be afraid! Sunday 21 of June 2026 - XII of the O.T. Jesus, in the passage from Matthew's Gospel that we’re going to listen to on Sunday, June 21, for three times invites his disciples to not be afraid! Actually, choosing to live as Jesus’ disciple, doing the will of His Father, that is: making life, joy and peace triumph in the hearts of our brothers and sisters with the greater power of His love, can arouse envy and jealousy in those who have made evil and the destruction of life their "reason for being". But the good news of the Gospel is precisely this: with Jesus we are more than victorious. We win when we win, but we win above all when we "lose" our lives out of love for God and for our brothers.
Work out your salvation in fear and trembling ph 2.12 Great apostasy of these idiots wolves in shepherds clothing Read St Pius X Pascendi Dominici Gregis