We are very pleased to announce several new editorial features that debut this week. Catholic evangelist Bo Sanchez now writes a weekly blog in ParishWorld. His previous articles on fidelity, marriage, and keeping life simple, among others, have been reader favorites in ParishWorld. This week he challenges you to "Keep the number of your heart secret."
Also begining this week, ParishWorld blogger Paul Dion provides short and crisp answers to burning question from Catholics. This week, the topic is "Why do Catholics put so much faith in the rosary?" He still continues to post challenging thoughts in his ParishWorld blog "No crying at my funeral."
"The True Christian Church" is an interesting commentary that explains why the Catholic Church - and not any one of the multitude of Protestant demoninations - is the ‘one true’ Church established by Jesus Christ himself. This is a must read. We also have a touching video about the Sandwich Generation, people who are caught between raising their children and caring for their aging parents. And "Five Ways God Uses Problems" explores how most people fail to see how God wants to use problems for good in their lives.
From the Vatican, Pope Benedict preached that the Ascension of Jesus Christ 'reveals the 'supreme vocation' of every human person. He also said to banish God from society is to banish hope from people's lives. He also chided Canadian Bishops to teach their congregations to rediscover the centrality of the Eucharist. The preacher of the Papal household shares his wonderful homily on Jesus' commandment: "This is my commandment: That you love one another as I have loved you." And see why this writer mean when he says there is no salvation outside the Church.
Here's some good news! A new study has found that the scandal over sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church has not caused American Catholics to leave the church or to stop attending Mass and donating to their parishes. In fact devotion is on the rebound. And while the number of priests worldwide has decreased, the Vatican reports that the increase in Africa and Asia is "heartening.” Now the bad news: As more priest sex abuse trials come close to getting under way, the Catholic Church's local property holdings may soon come into play.
A bigger role for women in the Catholic ministry? Check out this article from Australia. Social justice as the heart of Catholic calling gets a fresh look in this article that explores the Catholic Social Thought and how it guides the faithful to action on some of the most difficult issues of our time.Worldwide, life and social issues continue to reverberate. In Europe, a crisis is forming as marriages and birth rates continiue to drop continent-wide. In Oregon, the state's assisted suicide laws are being blamed for the increase in the rate of elderly suicides. In California, the Parental Notification Abortion Initiative has collected 1 million signatures that could put it back in the ballot for November 2006 elections. And in Vermont this week, Australian Cardinal Pell posed this challenge to Pro-Abortion Politicians: "How come you feel that you're able to go to Communion?"
From Iraq, stories abound about an injured priest hero, a Catholic priest who has become the first chaplain wounded in Iraq. In corners of China, signs are encouraging that a wounded Catholic Church is begining to heal. And globalization rears its ugly head with the release of two reports, one dealing with trafficking in human persons and the other with the international drugs trade.
Marriage becomes a hot topic this week as a small Missouri town of mostly Catholics face accusations of seeking to drive unmarried couples with children out of town on the grounds they do not fit the local definition of a family. While in Washington D.C., a U.S. senate committee voted to send a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage on to the full Senate Thursday.
And finally, if you think our internet technology today is just amazing, wait till you get a sense of where wireless technology is headed. The cell phones of tomorow are amazing. and they're just around the corner. And if you haven't heard, US telecom companies are trying to curb free access to the internet by proposing a tiered fee system. If this happens, the inventor of the internet predicts a "dark" internet. Keep your eyes on this issue because the lobbying at the U.S. Congress is fast and furious and you don't want to wake up one day to find your internet completely revamped and not to your liking.
It's been another exciting week at ParishWorld. Have a great and blessed weekend.
Keep the faith. Peace.
Wally Arida
Publisher and Editor in chief
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