Vaccines have become part a new religion. It is a religion with its own sacraments (hygiene, social distancing), saints (vaccinated people), commandments (Thou shall immunize thyself; Thou shall not covet your neighbor’s vaccination). Yet it is a false religion. This is the opinion of a person – a nun –  who was on oxygen for a month and a half with very severe Covid-related pneumonia. Yet, her entire Shalom Community was saved thanks to the prayers and assistance of a volunteer nurse. Let everyone choose freely whether or not to get vaccinated, but leave us free to live our faith and, especially, not to adhere to any deviant form of faith.

The Resurrection is the event that assures us that human life is journeying towards another life: journeying towards the Promised Land! Today we are as if on a bridge: we cannot build our house on the bridge, we cannot base everything on today, rather we must live journeying; we must live warming ourselves with the hope of expectation. Without the Resurrection of Christ, it is not possible to explain what happened around Christ and after Christ.

Life is this passage from darkness to light: a passage that we are all experiencing. A message has come to us, a piece of news: Christ has told us that life leads to God who is the Father. But if Christ is risen, life has a whole new meaning. Every day is Easter: because every day is a journey towards God; every day something old in us dies and we take a step towards life.

Who then is the Christian? The Christian is a person who lives by faith (cf. Rom 1:17), that is, who has regulated their entire existence on the only possibility opened up to him by Jesus Christ, obedient for us all even to the cross (cf. Phil 2:8): the possibility of participating in the obedient yes that redeems the world. The mystery of Christ passes into the Christian, who must have within him the Spirit of Christ that impels him to offer himself freely and unconditionally for the salvation of the world accepting serenely persecution and division.

At the Eucharistic celebration, we return to this very question and it is God who awaits our response: a response of actions, gestures and decisions. Let us sincerely recognize that pride is the poison of human history from all time. However, for Jesus, Judas is still the long-awaited friend and lost son of the Father's heart. 

Pain and indignation invade my heart to hear that they have forbidden private masses in St. Peter’s. It was the thing that strengthened my faith most every time I came to Rome. It is time to reduce the excessive power of the Secretariat of State. Let them make the Secretariat of State “a den of thieves”, But leave the devoted people of God alone!

The path indicated by Christ shuns Power, it leads to the Cross, this is the triumph of God. Let’s imitate Mary’s behaviour; let us be humble and together with her follow the Lord on the way of the Cross. This is also where our victory lies.

The intervention of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith prohibiting blessings for homosexual couples has provoked reactions from bishops and theologians disappointed with Pope Francis. Some believe that the praxis will not change because doctrinally forbidden praxis are still being implemented despite the fact that they are forbidden. This is the result of a confused doctrine that tolerates the intolerable after having declared that it is intolerable.

St Joseph's greatest glory lies in having served “directly the person and mission of Jesus through the exercise of his paternity”, as Redemptoris Custos teaches. Mary's spouse carried out his paternal role with a single purpose: to do the will of the heavenly Father. That is why fathers of all times have in him, the master of the interior life, their greatest model.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith says no to the blessing of homosexual unions, but is somewhat ambiguous when it speaks of positive elements in these relationships. The statement it used needs clarification. Here's why....

A raucous decision has been made inside the Vatican. An Apostolic Visitation has just began at the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament which, until just three weeks ago, was headed by Cardinal Robert Sarah. This is the first time that a Vatican Congregation has been placed under investigation. This explains why Pope Francis accepted Sarah's resignation without appointing a successor right away. The Apostolic Visitor is Bishop Claudio Maniago, who has both a liberal vision of the liturgy and has faced accusations in the past of moral transgressions. The decision, whose motivation is still unknown, could also be linked to recent revised measures for Masses celebrated inside St. Peter's Basilica, directives which penalise the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

From the 5th to 8th March Pope Francis will be in Iraq, barring last-minute impediments. His trip brings him to a country still hostage to internal and international conflicts, and with a decimated and persecuted Christian community. The Pope has no magic wand but everyone is expecting him to pronounce words of truth and justice that hold the strength of the Word of God; a cry that calls the oppressors to conversion.