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Earlier this year, The Pillar reported a surge in the number of prospective Catholics looking to join the Church at Easter. The Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, reported a 30 percent increase over the previous year to 633 converts, the highest number in a decade. Father Ryan Kaup of the Catholic Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln baptized 20 students himself— “the most ever”—and performed initiation rites for 50 others from different Christian denominations and now, of course, we have an American pope, Leo XIV, who church leaders hope will further boost the country’s Catholic boom.

Government Interrogator (to the Cardinal under arrest): You see, you represent a religion ...... which provides an organization outside the state. In your pulpit you are more dangerous than a politician. ... you're a national monument. You are outside the party, and that monument must be ... The Cardinal: Destroyed? Interrogator: Defaced. Dialog from the movie The Prisoner 1955

The Heart in Scripture: In Hebrew thought the heart means the entire interior life of the person. It is the center of the person’s identity and the center of understanding and free will. Tradition: The Fathers and theologians from St. Augustine and St. Cyril of Alexandria down to St. Peter Canisius speak of the fountain of living waters of divine love as taking their source in the side of Christ. By this the Fathers meant that the Holy Spirit was poured forth on mankind because he who possessed the Holy Spirit in all his fullness had sacrificed his own Heart. As a direct result the Church and all that it effects, her sacraments and the life of grace flow out from the Heart of Christ as the work of the Holy Spirit.

This just so happens is not a cash-and-carry business, you’re not dealing with the A&P now. These are cannibals, Mr. Leatherby, headhunting bloodthirsty cannibals who are out to eat us up.
Lt Colonel Van Dyke schools naïve American Mr. Leatherby on the nature of the Soviets in the movie Night People 1954. To update you can paste in for Soviets “the communist government of China.”

The current administration in Washington is unfortunately promoting and is in favor of IVF, in vitro fertilization, popularly called test tube fertilization. The rationale for this procedure is to help infertile couples have a child. People ask what can be wrong with that?

NOTE: The Church has clearly and unequivocally judged to be immoral in vitro fertilization or IVF. Unfortunately, most Catholics are not aware of the Church's teaching, do not know that IVF is immoral, and some have used it in attempting to have children.

You may have heard at funerals that a deceased is in heaven. Does that reflect Catholic teaching? The answer is no. The deceased may be in heaven but funerals are not canonizations and hence no one can say with certainty any deceased is in heaven except baptized infants and canonized saints. In the confusion following the close of the Second Vatican Council many Catholic teachings were ignored or denied especially those on death and what happens after death.

Also called the Quicumque-vult (‘‘Whoever wills [to be saved]’’) or for short, Quicumque from its opening words in Latin; a profession of the Catholic Faith in 40 rhythmical sentences. The Athanasian Creed is one of the approved statements of the truths of the Faith, dating back to the fourth or fifth century. Modern scholarship indicates that it was not written by St. Athanasius, but its expressions and ideas reflect his influence. Some scholars think it may have been written by St. Ambrose of Milan.

“The Most Important Person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral -a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby’s body. . . The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God’s creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation. .. What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?” ~ Venerable Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty

The Conclave to elect the next Vicar of Christ, Successor of St. Peter, will take place on May 7. Prayer is vital for the Cardinal-Electors, those Cardinals under the age of 80. We need to especially ask the prayers of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Church, to whose Motherhood May is dedicated, for the Pope we need in these times of fracture, doctrinal confusion, and scandal in the Church, although we should keep this observation of St. John Henry Cardinal Newman in mind as we think about the state of the Church:

‘Unshakable’ Rationalist Blogged Her Way into the Church Jennifer Fulwiler “always thought it was obvious that God did not exist.” Fulwiler grew up a content-atheist. Having a profound respect for knowledge, particularly scientific knowledge, Fulwiler was convinced that religion and reason were incompatible. Not surprisingly, she was also emphatically anti-Christian and, especially, anti-Catholic. “Catholic beliefs seemed bizarre and weird,” she says. Fulwiler would have been astonished to know that she and Joe Fulwiler, her husband, would come to embrace those “bizarre,” “weird” beliefs. On Easter 2007, they entered the Catholic Church with deep joy and a sense of coming home — and a blog aided their conversion. Register (National Catholic Register) correspondent Nona Aguilar spoke to Jennifer Fulwiler about the couple’s unexpected journey.

As we approach Holy Week and the holiest days of the Church-Year it’s good to reflect on the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection and the mission of the Church. Canon Law reminds us: The Supreme Law is the salvation of souls. Canon 1752.

“The salvation of souls. How often do we hear this language in the Church today? Not very often, I am afraid. And yet that is the very mission of the Church! … Bishop Alexander Sample, Archbishop of Portland Oregon.

The White Rose (German: Weiße Rose) was a non-violent, intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students and one professor at the University of Munich: Willi Graf, Kurt Huber, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Hans Scholl and Sophie Scholl. The group conducted an anonymous leaflet and graffiti campaign that called for active opposition to the Nazi regime.