“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more”. During the course of Christian eschatology when we comment on this passage of Revelation 21, there is always someone who is very sorry that among the beauties of creation that will be in the definitive Kingdom, the sea itself will be eliminated. For the biblical author, the sea represents evil, chaos, the indefinite, the abyss, and more profoundly the dark side of the human heart.

The elderly Bavarian priest had been hospitalized in Regensburg, in Bavaria, where he lived and where he received his brother Joseph’s final visit, with whom he had been ordained on the same day.

In the past, there was discussion about the interpretation of the conciliar texts. Now, the Vatican documents themselves are sometimes being called into question. Let’s look back at a document that has left its mark on the history of the Church.

“This Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom.”

Fifty-five years ago, on 7 December 1965, the Bishops assembled in Saint Peter’s Basilica approved one of the most-discussed conciliar documents, the Declaration Dignitatis humanae, On Religious Freedom.

“A voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord.” Isaiah 40:3

When Mary visited and greeted Elizabeth the mother of St. John the Baptist, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. Luke 1: 39-41). This passage from St. Luke forms a theological basis that John the Baptist, while not conceived without original sin, was born without it.

Characteristics of St. John

These days I recall the 25th anniversary of my priestly ordination which is usually referred to as the “priestly silver jubilee”. I have had the honor to work in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem since 1995 (which included Jordan, Palestine and Cyprus) during the era of Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the first Arab patriarch of the Holy City, Jerusalem. I can talk about two aspects, namely the priestly work and the media work.

In the past, there was discussion about the interpretation of the conciliar texts. Now, the Vatican documents themselves are sometimes being called into question. Let’s look back at a document that has left its mark on the history of the Church.

Following is the text of the homily Chrism Mass 2020 delivered by Most Rev. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, at the Basilica of Gethsemane, June 18, 2020 in Jerusalem:

Most Reverend Excellencies

Dear priests and religious,

I greet you with the words of the Apocalypse that we have just heard: “Grace to you and peace from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the Firstborn from the dead and the King of kings of the world!”

Following is the homily given by Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster.Given for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, June 14, 2020, in Westminster Cathedral:

These last three months have been a very testing time. Whatever words we use: ‘lockdown’, ‘social distancing’, ‘self-isolation’, they all point to pressure on our relationships. This is a time in which all our relationships are being tested.

Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord - 'Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in them'.

When we speak of our home, we do not think of the four walls of the house, but of the people who live there: our mother, father, brothers and sisters. Have you ever entered the house where no one is waiting for you now? Does it make sense to live in the cold emptiness of those walls? Does it make sense to live in the void of a faith? The Trinitarian faith belongs to us through the baptismal sacrament and places us in a family: ‘I believe in God the Father, in Jesus Christ the Lord and in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter’. We do not speak of a theory, but of Persons.