In Australia, there have been at least 50,000 members of the Jedi order the last several censuses. New Zealand discovered there were more Jedis than Hindus or Buddhists in their midst. Today there is a Jedi Church that offers a mission statement as well as a plea right on its home page to include it Read more
Putting something off is uniquely human. It involves a conscience—knowing what we should be doing and not doing it. So does that make procrastination a sin? “I think it can be if it’s a matter of failing to respond to what God asks of us,” says Patti Armstrong. There are lots of reason for procrastinating, Read more
Once after meeting Jeanne Jugan, Charles Dickens said, “there is in this woman something so calm, and so holy, that in seeing her I know myself to be in the presence of a superior being. Her words went straight to my heart, so that my eyes, I know not how, filled with tears. ”St. Jeanne Read more
ROME, Italy — Pope Francis has changed the name of St. Peter’s Basilica to “Tiber Creek Community Church,” Vatican spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi announced this morning. “The greatest church of Christendom, built on the holy grave of the martyr-prince of the Apostles, has been known as ‘St. Peter’s Basilica’ for 1700 years,” Fr. Lombardi explained. “It was long overdue for Read more
A controversial light show at St. Peter’s Basilica was intended to “inspire change around the climate crisis,” according to organizers of the event. The show, titled “Fiat Lux,” or “Let there be light,” was an unprecedented event during which images of “the earth and all of its living creatures” were projected on the main façade Read more
The Statue of Liberty was originally conceived as a Muslim peasant woman and was to have stood at the approach to the Suez Canal, a lantern in her upraised hand serving as both lighthouse and a symbol of progress. But the sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi of France, proved unable to sell the idea to the Read more
BabyCenter just released the results of its annual Baby Names Survey… but we don’t care about any of that. What is interesting, however, is just how much growth we’re seeing in names that just so happen to be Instagram filters. Pop culture has always been a big influencer in baby naming. But this year, we’re seeing Read more
The elevation of the Host at Mass was seen the laity in the middle ages as a privilege and the ultimate form of communion. Their understanding of the sense of sight allowed sight to be a higher sense than the lower sense of touch, or taste, or smell. As such, the medieval laity wanted to Read more
Catholicism is not for the fainthearted says blogger Rick Becker. He suggests three easy steps to take if you want avoid being a Catholic: Read only your bible. Study the Church’s detractors and their version of Catholic teaching. Focus on the most egregious examples of Catholic hypocrisy, misdeeds and immorality. Read more
A woman in the US has won the right to wear a colander on her head in her driving licence photo. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles had previously forbidden Lindsay Miller from sporting the unconventional headgear, worn by followers of the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or ‘Pastafarians’. However, the decision was Read more