Inauguration of the New Catholic Church Parish in Salalah Oman

ROME IS UNDER ATTACK! (Please Share!)

This alarming and very sad report was posted by Mr. Edoardo Fanfani at 4:21 PM, October 1, 2016 @ The Roman Anglican blog.

The Eternal City is under attack, our freedom and values are in danger.

Since it seems that no considerable press coverage has been given to the recent attacks occurred in Rome, either in Italy or elsewhere in the world, I decided to write mine own article in the hope not to incite hatred or intolerance, but rather to make people aware.

Last night a non-Italian individual entered the 9th century Basilica of Santa Prassede, just around the corner from the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, the rather robust man started to smash everything he found, especially statues and candlesticks, right before a group of parishioners who were quite scared. The two devotional statues of Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Prassede were heavily damaged, the attacker did not have time to finish his job as he was heading towards the sanctuary and the crucifix when the police arrived. Later, according to video-recording proof he also entered the church of San Martino ai Monti, where he smashed a devotional statue of the Madonna and Child.

This morning two further attacks occurred in the Basilicas of San Giovanni de' Fiorentini, on the Via Giulia, and San Vitale, on the Via Nazionale. Here statues, candlesticks, crucifixes were smashed, the perpetrator at this time had time to admit that it was not right that we worshipped in this way.

Most artworks in San Giovanni de' Fiorentini were over 300 years old, but even if other statues and religious furniture weren't that old or precious we must realise that not only our art, culture and identity are in danger (and to us Italians they are the dearest thing we have, what makes us what we are), but our very freedom of worship, our own religion, here in Rome, here in the heart of Western Christianity.

Jesus mercy, Mary pray.

Please share.

Thriving Catholic Churches in the Arabian Peninsula!

Catholic Church' Hidden Treasures - Allen R. Hunt (Former Protestant Pastor)

Photo Source: Roaming Catholics

Read Allen R. Hunt's Conversion Story from Methodist to Catholicism!

Altar Rails and Reverence

I hope and pray that this 'altar railings' may be revived in our churches, to separated the profane from being desecrated. -CD2000

Article from The Liturgy Guy
Posted in June 22, 2014

(Photograph of the sanctuary and altar rail at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Salisbury, NC)

Altar rails are making a comeback and with their return so is reverence. It is becoming more common these days to see the installation of rails as an integral component of liturgical reform and church architecture. From dioceses as diverse as Charlotte, North Carolina to Madison, Wisconsin the rail has returned.

To be clear, there was never a requirement to remove altar rails (also called communion rails) in the years following the Second Vatican Council. However, there were many in the Church who aggressively sought to remove that which was considered traditional and sacred. Gone were the high altars, beautiful Catholic statuary, and of course, altar rails.

A liturgically misguided attempt at egalitarianism ruled the post-conciliar landscape, one which challenged the very distinction between sanctuary and nave. Overtones of anticlericalism were pervasive, as was a new type of Catholic worship, one intentionally structured for ecumenical purposes.

By their very presence altar rails hindered the march toward the profane desired by many. With such liturgical innovations as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and most particularly the practice of Communion in the hand, altar rails were an affront to the moderns. In the new, democratic, liturgy kneeling had simply become outdated and uncouth.

In his seminal work “The Spirit of the Liturgy” Cardinal Ratzinger noted that, “The man who learns to believe learns also to kneel, and a faith or a liturgy no longer familiar with kneeling would be sick at the core.” In recent years, however, there has been a slow yet steady healing occurring within the liturgy.

Church designers, architects and historians such as Duncan Stroik and Denis McNamara have done their part in this effort. McNamara, who is a professor at the Liturgical Institute of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, addressed the theological significance of rails in a July 2011 interview with the National Catholic Register:

“(The altar rail) is still a marker of the place where heaven and earth meet, indicating that they are not yet completely united…But, at the same time, the rail is low, very permeable, and has a gate, so it does not prevent us from participating in heaven. So we could say there is a theology of the rail, one which sees it as more than a fence, but as a marker where heaven and earth meet, where the priest, acting in persona Christi, reaches across from heaven to earth to give the Eucharist as the gift of divine life.”

Altar rails are contributing to the restoration of the sacred and the recovery of reverence within the Holy Mass. At my home parish of St. Ann’s in Charlotte, North Carolina the rail returned with the 2009 renovation of the church. The altar rail was installed to accommodate the Traditional Latin Mass which was offered weekly. Over time the use of the rail was expanded to include all masses, whether offered in the Ordinary form or Extraordinary form.

The altar rail has also returned to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Salisbury, North Carolina (also in the Diocese of Charlotte). While the new church was completed back in 2009, the rail was not installed until just last year in support of the weekly Sunday Traditional Latin Mass.

More recently there is also the story of St. Mary’s of Pine Bluff, Wisconsin. Father Richard Heilman, pastor, had the altar rail installed earlier this year following a $20,000 gift from an anonymous donor. Overall the return of the rail has been well received by his parishioners. Since Fr. Heilman was already offering the mass ad orientem, and using kneelers for the faithful at Holy Communion, the reintroduction of the altar rail made perfect sense. More importantly, Father has seen reverence for the Eucharist continue to grow. Much like St. Ann’s in Charlotte, the majority of parishioners at St. Mary’s of Pine Bluff choose to receive Communion on the tongue.

It is fitting to conclude with the words of our pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Ratzinger noted that, “the practice of kneeling for Holy Communion has in its favor a centuries-old tradition, and it is a particularly expressive sign of adoration, completely appropriate in light of the true, real and substantial presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ under the consecrated species.”

Pray that more Catholics are blessed to experience the return of the altar rail to their parish and to receive Holy Communion while kneeling.

Infographic: What happened to the apostles and where are their remains today?

Immeasurably unfathomable is the LOVE of CHRIST to HIS Universal CHURCH by the SEED OF FAITH planted through His Apostles now ONLY FOUND n the CATHOLIC CHURCH! Splinters of protesting and stubborn churches who left the Catholic Church should start pondering how a LOVING GOD could betray HIS PEOPLE? The Catholic Church is HIS CHURCH—there is NO OTHER! There is BUT ONLY ONE CHURCH HE ESTABLISHED of which all Christians must adhere to it. For the CHURCH is the “pillar and bulwark” of ALL “truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

Think about this. Although ISRAEL, the chosen people, were stubborn, God did not found another Israel. God kept his promise. In the same way, JESUS founded ONE CHURCH. Though may have been stubborn but Christ WILL NEVER FOUND another Church. JESUS KEEPS HIS PROMISE “I will stay with you until the end of the time” (Matthew 28:20). So do not be scandalized when you hear some priests or religious or members of the Church did EVIL. These things have to pass. This only proves that Satan is willing to DESTROY the CHURCH OF CHRIST. But no matter what, JESUS PROMISED “the gates (or power) of hell shall not prevail.” (Matthew 16:16-18).

Be thankful to the Father for you are a CATHOLIC! Be thankful to Jesus, HE FOUNDED HIS Universal CHURCH. Be thankful to the Holy Spirit for HE GUIDES HIS CHURCH for centuries until our LORD GOD JESUS CHRIST COMES!

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! -CD2000

Photo Source: CatholicLink Info from ChurchPOP

Catholic Church still growing amidst persecution in the Middle East!

Another Catholic Church was built in the Middle East. This is a clear proof that the ONLY Church of Christ is alive and being animated by the Holy Spirit against those who stole the name of Christ and pretended to be "real" but are in fact FAKE churches such as the Iglesia Ni Cristo® of Felix Manalo-- an apostate, now is governed and controlled by corrupt INC™ Ministers according to a certain Mr. Antonio Ebangelista.

Cardinal Parolin opens new Catholic Church in Abu Dhabi

(Vatican Radio) The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, on Thursday inaugurated the second Catholic Church to be opened in Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates.

St Paul’s Church is in the Musaffah industrial area. The emirate’s other Catholic Church is Joseph’s Cathedral in Al Mushrif.

The 1200-seat church will have daily services in English, weekly services in Arabic, Malayalam and Tagalog, bimonthly service in Tamil and monthly service in Konkani.

“We thank the rulers for providing an attractive environment where Christians feel accepted and are able to live their own identity and to practice their religious beliefs,” said Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia. “The mission of the Church is to do everything possible to foster the human capital of the Christian faithful and to make them strong in the pursuit of truth and moral behaviour and thus able to better serve the country.”

There are nearly 1 million Catholics in the United Arab Emirates, mostly migrant workers from South and East Asia.

The Beauty Of The Catholic Faith

Artilce from The Catholic Eternal Truth

 

We cannot speak of beauty if we do not know what beauty is, With the words of St. Thomas Aquinas "Beauty is the splendor of the goods that each being ought to have according to its nature”. In other words St. Thomas is telling us that beauty is not something that we see and pleases our senses, beauty is imbued deep within the being's nature. The beauty of the Catholic faith lies not in its glorious basilicas, majestic tabernacles and incorruptible saints but it emanates from its very foundation the body, blood and divinity of its founder Jesus Christ. To completely exhaust the reasons why the Catholic faith is beautiful is quite unrealistic because our lifetime would not be enough to articulate the beauty, majesty and splendor of the Catholic faith. In lieu of our limitations we'll just have to discuss some of the reasons why the Catholic faith is beautiful.

Unity in Diversity - The Catholic faith is capable of fostering unity among diverse individuals, it cannot be denied that the Catholic Church is made of members coming from various cultures, race, background, lifestyle and language. However, the Catholic faith like a fire it purges (Zec.13:8-9) away the imperfections of these elements and integrates whatever is pure and profitable for the soul. The Pontificate of Blessed Pope John Paul II reiterates the message of St. Paul in our contemporary society that among us Christians "There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal.3:28). We have seen this unity of Christians through the World Youth Day and other universal gatherings espoused by this great pope. Despite of the difference in culture, race and background those who were able to attend the world youth day didn't experience any untoward feeling towards their Catholic brothers and sisters coming from different nations. Rather they are overwhelmed with joy, belongingness and sense of sacredness. Such an event is a foretaste of what the Kingdom of God would be like, there are no barriers and discrimination all are one in Christ. No any other institution in the world can imitate this kind of unity only the Catholic Church because it is no ordinary institution, it is the body of Christ (Col.1:18).

The Communion of Saints - Every time we attend the Sunday Mass we often recite the Apostles creed, a public profession of our Catholic faith. In the creed we say "I believe in the communion of saints", but what do we really mean by this? One must not think that we are the only Catholics in the Church, we have forgotten that we are the Church militant the one who still have to workout his salvation with fear and trembling (Phil.2:12). There are those who died in God's grace but still have to be purified from their imperfections for no defile can enter the Kingdom of God (Rev.21:27), we often refer to these souls as the Church suffering. We also have our brothers and sisters who are already in heaven (Heb.12:22) and continually intercedes for us that we may join them in heaven (Rev.4:8). Though we are all in different state yet we are a family we help each other attaining our goal and that is to be with Jesus Christ in heaven. The Church militant offers prayers for the poor souls in Purgatory that their purification will be shorten and those who are in heaven unceasingly prays for us giving us strength and inspiring us to be obedient sons and daughters of God. In fact together with our fellow Catholics those who are in heaven and in purgatory are worshiping Jesus Christ (Phil.2:10). If only we spend more time reading the teachings of the Church and writings of saints we would even more appreciate the beauty of the communion of saints. God knows that man will always have the inclination to use his senses even in spiritual matters thus he left us not in vain but provided us with evidences of his presence through the incorruptible body of saints. Modern science cannot explain how these body remain intact and no signs of decay after being laid to rest hundreds of years ago. Unlike the mummified remains of the Egyptians the incorruptible body of saints remains to be fresh, some are even reported to be within their normal body temperature and would even bleed if pricked by a needle. There are no any other plausible explanation for this miraculous events but a sure sign of God's presence and favor. The communion of saints tells us to never lose hope in our battle to enter the kingdom of God, the saints too like us were sinners but they didn't lose hope as what Pope Francis said "God never gets tired of forgiving us." So, let us not forget to pray for our beloved brothers and sisters who are in purgatory and to ask the intercession of the saints.

The Sacraments - Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church not only for the purpose of preaching the gospel to all nations (Mt.28:18-20) but also as a means to where people are gathered and saved (Acts 2:47, Eph.5:23). But what is in the Catholic faith that Pope Francis was able to say that "It's absurd to think you can live with Jesus, but without the church."? It is through the Church that Jesus Christ will sanctify his people through the sacraments. When Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross a soldier pierce his side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out (John 19:34). Blood and water is taken by the Church Fathers as a symbolism of the Sacrament. Water symbolizes the Sacrament of initiation, baptism (Jn.3:5, Ti.3:5) and blood symbolizes the Holy Eucharist (Jn 6:54) the life and summit of the Church. The Sacraments of the Church are fountains of grace, it is through the Sacraments that sanctifying grace is being dispense to those who are spiritually prepared to receive it. Though the Holy Spirit can infuse grace to whomever he wants but He choose the Sacraments as the ordinary means of dispensing the graces that is necessary for salvation. Without the Sacraments it would be impossible to man to obtain graces on his own.

Miracles - Since his birth Jesus Christ already showed us signs of wonder that he is no ordinary person from his miraculous birth (Jn.1:14) to his ascension in heaven. Christ's public ministry is also accompanied with miracles to prove his true nature that he is the Son of God, true God and true man. In like manner the Church that he founded is also accompanied with miracles and signs of wonder that serves as evidence of its divine mandate. All throughout the centuries we have seen numerous incorrupt body of saints venerated by Christians since time immemorial, to name a few Pope St. Pius X, St. Catherine Laboure and St. Claire of Assisi. Aside from that there are miracles wherein the consecrated bread and wine literally turns into real flesh and blood, and who else can forget about the miracle that happened in Fatima? These miracles where scrutinized by science yet they cannot provide a probable explanation for these events. But there is one explanation that is plausible that these miracles originated from God, that like Christ whose public ministry is accompanied with miracles his Church also in her public ministry is accompanied with various miracles. No any other religion in the world can claim miracles that are far more superior than the miracles that occurred in the Catholic Church.

Spirituality - Spirituality is an important aspect of man, it is through spirituality that he establishes an intimate relationship with God. Without proper form of spirituality it is impossible to build a deep relationship with our creator. God wanted us to build a relationship with him but we have to do it in a way that he wants it to be. People from other religions search in the shadows in an attempt to connect with God but their efforts are in vain because they are performing forms of spirituality that had its origin in man and not God. The Catholic faith has many forms of spirituality that will aid the individual in attaining a relationship with God. The saints are the prime example of how effective Catholic spirituality is. The Rosary is a favorite of the saints because it entails them to meditate on the life and passion of Jesus Christ as they recite the mysteries of the Holy Rosary. Novenas to the different saints and angels are also an effective form of spirituality through this ritual we establishes a relationship with our brothers and sisters already in heaven invoking their aid through their intercession that we too might also join them in God's Kingdom. Spirituality also fosters devotion to the Holy Eucharist, all of the saints have great devotion to the Holy Eucharist, one cannot become a saint if the Eucharist is not the center of his spirituality.

Here are some of the reasons why the Catholic faith is beautiful, the externals of the Catholic faith that captured our senses are emanates from the inner beauty of the Catholic faith. In reality words are not enough to elucidate the beauty and splendor of the Catholic faith.

CATHOLICISM! Let's Celebrate it!

Muslim mob burns Catholic church in Sudan capital

Photo Source: chron.com/AP News

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — A Muslim mob set ablaze a Catholic church frequented by Southern Sudanese in the capital Khartoum, witnesses and media reports said on Sunday.

The church in Khartoum's Al-Jiraif district was built on a disputed plot of land, but the Saturday night incident appeared to be part of the fallout from ongoing hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan over control of an oil town on their ill-defined border.

Sudan and South Sudan have been drawing closer to a full-scale war in recent months over the unresolved issues of sharing oil revenues and the disputed border.

Last week, South Sudanese troops seized Heglig, which the southerners call Panthou, sending Sudanese troops fleeing. The Khartoum government later claimed to have regained control of the town.

The witnesses and several newspapers said a mob of several hundred shouting insults at southerners torched the church. Fire engines could not put out the fire, they said.

One newspaper, Al-Sahafah, said the church was part of a complex that included a school and dormitories. Ethiopian refugees living in the Sudanese capital also used the church...

BBC: The (Roman) Catholic Church

Inside the Catholic Cathedral in Westminster, London (Photo Source: London Travel Tips)

Article Source: BBC Religion

Introduction and the Church in Britain

The Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church is the oldest institution in the western world. It can trace its history back almost 2000 years.

Today there are more than a billion Catholics in the world, spread across all five continents with particular concentrations in southern Europe, the United States, the Philippines and the countries of Central and South America. What binds this diverse group of people together is their faith in Jesus Christ and their obedience to the papacy.

Catholics believe that the Pope, based in Rome, is the successor to Saint Peter whom Christ appointed as the first head of His church. He therefore stands in what Catholicism calls the apostolic succession, an unbroken line back to Peter and has supreme authority. Popes can speak infallibly on matters of faith and morals but in practice do so rarely.

The Catholic Church in Britain

In Britain, Catholics suffered a long period of persecution following Henry VIII's break with the papacy in the 1530s and were sometimes regarded as servants of a foreign power - particularly in the wake of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, orchestrated by Catholic figures in the hope of restoring a co-believer to the throne.

By the start of the nineteenth century, however such 'anti-popery' prejudices started to die away and full civic rights were restored in 1829.

Today there are as many as five million Catholics - or about one in 12 people - but of these only about one million attend church regularly. Catholics are encouraged to attend weekly mass and are under an obligation during the Easter season to attends the sacraments of reconciliation (formerly known as confession) and holy communion.

Distinguishing features and doctrine

How the Catholic Church differs from other denominations

For almost a thousand years, Catholicism and Christianity were as one. The break, or schism between the Church of Rome and other Christian faiths began with the split with Orthodox Christians in 1054 over questions of doctrine and the absolute authority and behaviour of the popes. For similar reasons in the sixteenth century, the Protestant churches also went their own way.

The modernising Second Vatican Council (1962-65) saw Catholicism (which post-Reformation was often labelled Roman Catholicism, though this is not a description much favoured by Catholics themselves) addressing itself in earnest to its relationships with other Christian churches.

Significantly it abandoned the notion of the Catholic Church as the sole means of salvation. There were, it was acknowledged, other routes to heaven. This opened the way for dialogue with other churches. It has produced an atmosphere of good will and much talk of reunion, but key questions on authority, the sacraments and ministry continue to present seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Catholics share with other Christians a belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ, the son of God made man who came to earth to redeem humanity's sins through His death and resurrection. They follow His teachings as set out in the New Testament and place their trust in God's promise of eternal life with Him. Catholicism, however, is distinct from other Christian churches in both its organisation and its teaching.

Catholic Church' Different Rites (Western & Eastern)

DOHA QATAR: The UNIVERSALITY of the CHURCH witnessed at theFeast of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish