Church Doctrine

Dies Domini - On keeping the Lord's Day Holy Ad Tuendam Fidem - On Protecting the Faith John Paul II ..

Why Crusades, Human Sexuality and Our Creator? What caused the First Crusade? Is the Catholic Church really anti-sex? From the blurb: "Brendan Roberts explores the five major Crusades and gives a no-holds barred depiction of the evil perpetrated by every side in the battles. Then he explores how we reflect the nature of God, through morality and our human sexuality. Think of this book as Pope Francis meets Osama bin Laden. For it is about reconciliation, forgiveness, love and the struggle of goodness vs. evil. It portrays how Pope John Paul II sought forgiveness for members of the Church who perpetrated ghastly evils; the groundbreaking initiatives fostering reconciliation within the Orthodox Church; and as a Catholic layperson Brendan grasps the unique opportunity to ask forgiveness of the Orthodox Church, Muslims and Jews for the evil perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church during the Crusades. Brendan uses a down to earth style to inspire people that our awesome God truly..

The prophetic role of consecrated people in the Church and the world is explored in this letter throught the teachings of Pope Francis. Like watchmen, working constantly at the junction between the Church and the world, consecrated people have a unique role in reading and interpreting the signs of the times. ..

Pope Francis has exhorted all Christians to announce the Gospel with joy, and has asked Consecrated people to ensure that wherever they are present, joy is present also. This letter from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, based on the magisterium of Pope Francis, is an ideal preparatory text for the Year of Consecrated Life 2014-2015. Themes include evangelisaiton and a faithful, joyful and fertile love for those most in need. The text also contains questions for all Consecrated people to ponder for the forthcoming year promted by the teaching of Pope Francis. ..

On the world stage and in the life of the Catholic Church, John Paul II became known as the Great Mercy Pope — devoting his second encyclical to God’s mercy, forgiving his would-be assassin, making Sr. Faustina, the great apostle of Divine Mercy, a saint and establishing Divine Mercy Sunday as a universal feast day in the Church. Now, more than three years into his own papacy, his successor, Benedict XVI, has become known as a Pope of Mercy in his own right. He opened the first ever World Apostolic Congress on Mercy in Rome last April and at its conclusion called the participants to “go forth and be witnesses of God’s mercy.” Further, during a pastoral visit to Poland in 2006, this Pope of Mercy called the sick to be “eloquent witnesses God’s mercy” and said he was passing on the “Flame of Mercy” to the youth he met. Discover in Pope Benedict’s Divine Mercy Mandate, how the Holy Father spoke of receiving a gift of Divine Mercy when he was elected Pope in 2005 and how he then stressed D..

Pope Francis inaugurates the Year of Consecrated Life (30th November 2014 to 2nd February 2016) with this letter addressed to all consecrated people. Pope Francis writes not only as successor of Peter but also as a brother “who like yourselves is consecrated to God.”..

In a conversation with Vatican expert Andrea Tornielli, Pope Francis discloses the core of his papacy and, in his own words, conveys the great message of the Holy Year of Mercy.  For the first time, Pope Francis addresses each woman and each man on Earth in a deep, simple and intimate dialogue. Through his own experience as a priest and shepherd, the pope talks about Mercy, a subject of central importance in his teaching and testimony. He explains the reasons for this extraordinary Holy Year, and in doing so he speaks to all the souls - inside and outside the Church - who are looking for a meaning in life, for a road to peace and reconciliation, for a healing to their physical and spiritual wounds. It is the summing up of his teachings and papacy. AUTHOR INFORMATION  Born in Buenos Aires in December 1936, Jorge Mario Bergoglio has been the Bishop of Rome and 266th Pope of the Catholic Church since the 13th of March 2013. On the 13th of March 2015 he decided to give a decisive turn to h..

Pope Francis’ post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, “Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love) on love in the family has been released. This much-awaited Apostolic Exhortation is the conclusion of a two-year synod process discussing both the beauty and challenges of family life today. The 2015 Synod’s theme was “the vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.”..

This encyclical, drawing its name from St. Francis' Canticle of the Creatures, reminds us that earth is our common home and that we must care for it. Pope Francis calls the entire world to take action to embrace what he called ecological conversion. The document is some 40,000 words and 184 pages long, but it comes alive and is more accessible in this unique, in-plain-English reading guide. This guide offers a summary of every article in Pope Francis groundbreaking document and a small group reflection process to help everyone read it and understand it. The article numbers in the original are retained for ease in moving between the guide and the actual encyclical. The six small group sessions outlined here include group reading, discussion, prayer, and action suggestions (for communal or personal use) making it ideal for youth ministry, confirmation programs, parish leaders, small communities, clergy groups, adult formation, the RCIA, or families...

This offering for the Year of Consecrated Life explores the place of the Religious Brother within the Church-Communion. Following the three dimensions within which the Church-Communion presents itself, this latest document from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life develops the identity of the Brother as a mystery of communion for mission. At the centre of this triple perspective lies the heart of the identity of the Religious Brother – namely ‘fraternity’, which is a gift that is received (mystery), a gift that is shared (communion) and a gift that is given away (mission). The text concludes with some guidelines so that in every part of the world and in every community, each Religious Brother may respond to the question: How can we be Brothers today? As well as Religious Brothers, this document is also directed to the laity, religious priests, diocesan priests, bishops and all those who want to know about, appreciate and promote the voc..

In his latest address to consecrated people, Pope Francis expresses his appreciation for "contemplative sisters", emphasising that the church needs them "to bring today's men and women to the good news of the Gospel"..

The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy has come to and end, but mercy must continue to be lived out and celebrated in our communities. In this Apostolic letter, issued at the Jubilee's conclusion, Pope Francis proposes various initiatives and points of reference to ensure that we continue to build our lives on mercy. Mercy can never be a mere parenthesis in the life of the Church; it constitutes her very existence, through which the profound truths of the Gospel are made manifest and tangible. Everything is revealed in mercy; everything is resolved in the merciful love of the Father.   Pope Francis, Misericordia et Misera...

Fifty years after the Vatican Council’s Decree on the Renewal of Religious Life (Perfectae Caritatis, 1965), the Church reflects on the great force for evangelisation that lies with today’s consecrated men and women. Such witness - love for God and neighbour, love of the cross and the hope of future glory - speaks to the far corners of today’s world and is to be greatly valued. Proclaim continues the reflection which began in the Letters Rejoice, Keep Watch and Contemplate so that the insights of the Year of Consecrated Life may continue to bear fruit...

In this latest letter to consecrated men and women,we are called to direct our gaze into the dephts of our life; to seek the reasons underlying our pilgrimage in search of God and to examine the contemplative dimension of our lives so we may recognise the mystery of grace that sustains us exhilarate us and transfigures us...

In 1986 John Paul II completed his Trinitarian encyclicals, begun with Redemptor Hominis (on Jesus Christ) in 1979, and then Dives in Misericordia (on God the Father) in 1980. Already setting the Church’s sights on the great Jubilee of the year 2000, marking ‘the passage from the second to the third Christian Millennium’, Pope John Paul reflects on the Holy Spirit, as the one who is at the centre of the Christian faith and is the source and dynamic power of the Church’s renewal. This encyclical has been drawn from the heart and heritage of the Second Vatican Council, and its rich teaching on the Church in herself and the Church in the world. The text explores the spirit of the Father and Son given to the Church, the spirit who convinces the world of sin, and the spirit who above all else gives life, leading to the realization that the way of the Church passes through the heart of man, because here is the hidden place of the salvific encounter with the Holy Spirit. ..

CHRISTUS VIVIT: CHRIST LIVES Christus Vivit: Christ Lives Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation to Young People By Francis, Pope (Author) $13.50 Pope Francis has written a very personal letter to young people, and to the entire People of God, following the 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment. In his engaging and easy to read style, the Pope draws from young saints and biblical figures, and even the young Jesus, to remind today’s young people that their voice must be listened to. The Pope offers some guidance to young people, exploring vocation discernment and encouraging friendship with Jesus. He also addresses the Church as a whole, reminding us of the youthfulness the Church should embody, while also considering how to renew youth ministry and emphasising the importance of attracting young people to the Church. This is an important document to be read by anyone – young people, those involved in youth ministry, and all those who wish to help pave the wa..