BLOG: General Posts
Since 2010 the Vatican’s Institute for Religious Works, commonly referred to as the Vatican Bank, has faced questions about its transparency and compliance with international banking laws. Since then many concrete changes have been made, including the appointment of a new bank director, a new board of international experts to oversee the bank, and the ...read more
In his Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Sarcramentum Caritatis (or Sacrament of Charity), Pope Benedict XVI writes the following on the relationship between the Eucharist and the Church: Since the Eucharist makes present Christ’s redeeming sacrifice, we must start by acknowledging that “there is a causal influence of the Eucharist at the Church’s very origins.” The Eucharist ...read more
To a Portuguese boy, speaking about Our Lady of Fatima is essentially speaking about someone who is part of his daily life. This is the case with me. Fatima itself has a special meaning for me and where ever I go I try to explain what that meaning is to me and all Portuguese. Between ...read more
Lujan, Argentina, 1630 – A devoutly Catholic farmer from Portugal arrives in the northern Argentine town of Sumampa, in the province of Santiago del Estero. To his great dismay his faith is not well known or shared in his new hometown.  In order to feel more at home he takes it upon himself to build ...read more
Tepeyac, Mexico, 9 December 1531. A young woman appears to an indigenous peasant named Juan Diego. The woman, initially identified by Juan Diego as a teenaged Aztec princess, asks Juan Diego in his native language to have a shrine built in her name– she introduces herself as the Blessed Virgin Mary– on the site where ...read more
Grown up in Portugal I always was told that our lady asked the three little shepherds in Fatima to say the rosary every day but some times we know that this just is not enough! And as I grew up, I learned how much the rosary has an effect and how much it helps on ...read more
When thinking about sites of Marian pilgrimage this May, our thoughts often fly to places overseas. Our Lady has also carved a special place for herself a little closer to home. Lying 150 kilometers east of Montreal on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, Cap-de-la-Madeleine was used as a Jesuit missionary station as early ...read more
Almost ten years after World Youth Day Toronto, the students of Neil McNeil Catholic Secondary School have built their own travelling cross.  Known as the “Witness to Faith Cross,” it is journeying to all the schools in the Toronto Catholic District School board during the 2011-2012 academic year.  A public affirmation of faith in and ...read more
Trailer Short from Anteroom Pictures on Vimeo. Pornography is a societal problem, but first and foremost, it is a personal one that affects both those who buy it and those who produce it. Shelley Lubben is among the latter group. A former porn star and prostitute, Lubben’s traumatic experiences in the sex industry led to ...read more
Could you forgive someone who killed your child? I suspect most of you would say yes, you would at least try, if only because the alternative would be a lifetime of anger. But would you ever be able to accept that this murderer could avoid punishment, so long as he confessed to his crime? And ...read more