-
1 week ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
We now know that the last encyclical of Pope Francis’ life is “Dilexit Nos,” his extended reflection on the human and divine love of the Savior.
-
2 weeks ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
The contemporary papal inauguration Mass, which Pope Leo XIV celebrated May 18, has undergone substantial revisions in the past decades. Before Pope Paul VI, the new pontiff was carried in on the sedia gestatoria, the portable throne carried aloft on attendants’ shoulders, complete with regal ostrich feather fans.
-
3 weeks ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
By now, readers are likely aware that Pope Leo XIV, previously known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, has roots stretching from Chicago to Philadelphia to Peru’s Lambayeque region at the foot of the Andes. In his new role, he has decided to keep the basic coat of arms and motto he used as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, and then through his curial position in the Dicastery for Bishops.
-
1 month ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
Sitting with our good friends from Mexico recently sipping Micheladas (a sort of beer-based Latin version of Bloody Marys), the conversation meandered from the conclave into the popular May 3 celebration known as the Fiesta de las Cruces (Festival of the Crosses). Though I know the basics of the story, I connect it more with the Sept. 14 feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the current liturgical calendar.
-
1 month ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
In a week full of striking images and personal tears, it was the one word etched in the Ligurian marble quarried not far from his grandparents’ hometown that resonated most with me – Franciscus. Ten simple letters to encapsulate an incredibly complex lifetime, and perhaps a whole generation in Church history. Pope Francis was fond of saying that we live not in an era of changes, but in a change of eras.
-
1 month ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
As Pope Francis eases back into visits, meetings and some public liturgical appearances, he has made a point on numerous occasions to pray at the tomb of Saint Pius X. Many people have tried to read the ecclesial tea leaves as to why that is the case, much as they did in 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI, without prior announcement, left his pallium on the tomb of Pope Celestine V, the last pope to have resigned the office.
-
1 month ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
Archeologists have obviously unearthed many cultural and artistic artifacts that date back earlier than 1,700 years ago. A recent documentary piqued my interest in the Rudston Monument in England, as it claimed it has stood for 6,000 years; Göbleki Tepe in Turkey is much older, with some scientists believing the worship space can be dated to 11,000 years ago.
-
2 months ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
As we cross the halfway point in our Lenten journey, the Church calls us to ponder Jesus’ parable typically referred to as the Prodigal Son in the liturgical readings for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. While a stunning work of ancient writing – one that inspired nearly all of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s literature after he encountered the parable in the apocalyptic prison camps of Siberia – Christians all too frequently have a tendency to sanitize the unsettling message of the passage.
-
2 months ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
A letter sent to all bishops and eparchs in the world, “and, through them, to the entire Holy People of God entrusted to their care,” from the General Secretariat of the Synod, signed by its secretary general, Cardinal Mario Grech of Malta, was made public March 15.
-
2 months ago | 
catholicstarherald.org | Michael M. Canaris
In celebrating the 700th anniversary of the poet Dante Alighieri’s death, Pope Francis opened his 2021 apostolic letter “Candor Lucis Aeternae” with a reference to the ancient Florentine calendar starting the year on March 25. This was because Florence marked time “ab Incarnatione,” meaning from the time when Jesus Christ took on human flesh.
