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More than just a headline – Pope Francis’ asks forgiveness
Pope Francis is making headlines again, once more following an in-flight press conference on his return from a papal visit abroad, in this case to Armenia. The headlines generally follow one format:...
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For Pallium Day 2016, a small crop
Today, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Francis will once again be giving out he pallia to the world’s new metropolitan archbishops (or to their representatives). The actual imposition of the...
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Robert Kardinaal Sarah: “Naar een authentieke toepassing van Sacrosanctum...
This is a Dutch translation of Cardinal Robert Sarah’s address on the first day of the Sacra Liturgia conference, held in London from 5 to 8 July. This translation is based on the text as released via...
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The thin line between fear and charity
It’s a thin line that separates feelings when we are confronted with news report after news report about the latest terrorist attack committed in the name of Islam: the thin line between hate of...
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The first feast of St. Mary Magdalene – what it does and does not mean
Penitent Magdalene by Guido Reni, c. 1635 It’s odd. Pope Francis recently promoted today’s celebration of Saint Mary Magdalene from a memorial to a feast, the same category as the celebrations of most...
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To be an instrument of the Lord – Bishop van den Hende’s catechesis talk at WYD
World Youth Day 2016 is over, but here is a translation of the third catechesis given to the Dutch pilgrims over the course of the week-long event which saw several million young Catholics gathered in...
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“Room for the Risen One” -Looking back at the installation of bishop Timmerevers
On 27 August, Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers was installed as bishop of Dresden-Meißen. Here on the blog it went sort of unmarked because of the summer season, but here is the translation of the homily...
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“The bishop bearing witness to the Cross”– Cardinal Woelki’s homily at the...
On Sunday, Bishop Georg Bätzing was ordained and installed as the 13th bishop of Limburg. Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, the archbishop of Cologne, gave the homily, which I share in my English...
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“A service to the faith of the people”– Bishop Helmut Dieser looks ahead to...
Trier is a popular hunting ground for new bishops, if the last two appointments are an indication. First Germany’s oldest diocese lost its vicar general to Limburg and today one of its three auxiliary...
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The bread of eternal life
Giving the homily at Mass on 22 September, during the German bishops’ autumn plenary meeting in Fulda, Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker of Paderborn discussed the passage in the Gospel of John in which...
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Flying back to Rome, Pope Francis pictures the headlines
If today’s press conference on the flight back from Azerbaijan is any indication, Pope Francis has learnt the ways of the media. Speaking about the headline-generating topic of gender, the Holy Father...
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‘From Conflict to Community’– Nordic bishops on the eve of Pope Francis’...
The members of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference – covering the countries of Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland – have written a pastoral letter looking ahead to Pope Francis’ visit to Lund and...
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After death, no changes from Rome – some thoughts about the CDF Instruction
Ad resurgendum cum Christo is nothing new. Today’s Instruction from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith presents no new teachings or policies regarding the burial of the dead. Rather, it...
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Pope in Sweden – the Dutch translations
In this post I will collect my translations of the various homilies and addresses given by Pope Francis during his short visit to Sweden. The translations will be appearing as time permits, so do check...
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The work is never done – Bishop Dieser installed as Bishop of Aachen
With a call to unity and an eye on the future Bishop Helmut Dieser was installed as seventh bishop of Aachen on Saturday. In addition, bishop Dieser also emphasised the synodal future of the Church of...
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Four cardinals to the Pope – An honest contribution to the debate
Four cardinals – in some ways, four usual suspects – have written to the Pope about Amoris laetitia, asking for clarification about certain issues which have given many writers a lot to write about...
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“Be channels of mercy”– Pope Francis addresses Dutch pilgrims
It was the high point of a multi-day pilgrimage of some 2,000 Dutch faithful to Rome to conclude the Holy Year of Mercy. Holy Mass at St. Peter’s offered by Cardinal Eijk and other Dutch bishops,...
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Waiting for God – Bishop Bonny’s letter for Advent
In the first of this year’s traditional Advent letters that most bishops write, Bishop Johan Bonny speaks about waiting. Waiting for our friends or loved ones, but also waiting for God. And about God’s...
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Wake up! – Bishop Oster’s letter for Advent
Passau’s Bishop Stefan Oster takes St. Paul’s words as his own in his letter for Advent, urging us to wake up from sleep. We must wake up to actively pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ, in the...
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Alarm over the new translation of the Lord’s Prayer? Not so much.
Last Wednesday LifeSiteNews published an article, which was later also published on Aleteia, about the new Dutch translation of the Lord’s Prayer, introduced in the dioceses of the Netherlands,...
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