Seal Of Confession Under Threat In WA: Bishops React

Last updated on: June 3, 2025 at 11:01 pm By Mauricio Pérez

For over 2,000 years, the Catholic Church has firmly upheld that everything said during the sacrament of confession must remain absolutely confidential. This principle, known as the seal of confession, has been safeguarded so strictly that many priests throughout history have been imprisoned, tortured, and even martyred for refusing to break it. Canon Law and the Seriousness of the Seal of Confession The Code of Canon Law, in canon 983 §1, establishes that the seal of confession is inviolable. A... Read more

Was Robert Prevost Chosen By Francis To Be The Next Pope?

Last updated on: June 3, 2025 at 11:05 pm By Mauricio Pérez

After the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, the cardinals gathered in Conclave to elect the new successor of St. Peter. Locked in the Sistine chapel, it took them 4 scrutinies, that is, four ballots and only two days in conclave, to reach a decision. After two black smoke signals, just after 6 in the afternoon, Rome time, the white smoke emanated from chimney of the Sistine Chapel announcing that the Catholic Church had a pope. Approximately an... Read more

Pope Francis Dies at 88: Remembering the Pope of Mercy

Last updated on: April 29, 2025 at 4:15 pm By Mauricio Pérez

On Monday, April 21, in the morning, the Catholic world was shocked after hearing the news that Pope Francis had passed at 7:30. It was Monday in the Octave of Easter. Just a day before, on Easter Sunday, the Holy Father had imparted his last blessing Urbi et Orbi, for Rome and for the world, as a tender act of farewell, without anyone knowing. Summarizing the pontificate of any pope in a word might seem hard. Yet, it is... Read more

The Prodigal Son: Perdition, Conversion, Forgiveness

Last updated on: March 31, 2025 at 8:53 am By Mauricio Pérez

Sunday IV of Lent, the Sunday of joy, Laetare Sunday. Laetare means “rejoice”. The Entrance Antiphon, taken from the book of the prophet Isaiah, says, “Rejoice, Jerusalem, and all who love her. Be joyful, all who were in mourning; exult and be satisfied at her consoling breast.” (Cf. Is 66: 10-11). The incipit of this antiphon, in Latin, reads “Laetare Jerusalem”. This Sunday is a Sunday that comes to us like an oasis in the middle of the Lenten desert... Read more

Francis, The Pope Of Mercy, 12 Years After His Election

Last updated on: June 3, 2025 at 11:10 pm By Mauricio Pérez

After 12 years of pontificate, Pope Francis could be remembered as the Pope of Mercy. His constant emphasis on this value has been one of the cornerstones of his message and his pastoral care. Throughout his pontificate, he has emphasized the importance of living mercy not only as a theological concept, but as a concrete and daily practice. This is reflected in various aspects of his teaching, his gestures and his way of guiding the Catholic Church. Already from his... Read more

Paquita la del Barrio: A Voice of Heartbreak and Faith

Last updated on: February 21, 2025 at 9:01 am By Mauricio Pérez

On February 17, 2025, Paquita la del Barrio (Paquita, the One of the Neighborhood), renowned as the queen of the “breakup bolero”, died while she slept through the night in her home located in Xalapa, Veracruz, due to an acute heart attack. She was 77. Francisca Viveros Barrandas was her real name. She was also born in the state of Veracruz, in 1947. Specialized in the genre of ranchera music and other traditional styles of Mexican folk music, Paquita la... Read more

Jubilee Of Hope: Finding Hope In The Miraculous Fishing

Last updated on: February 10, 2025 at 12:02 am By Mauricio Pérez

Celebrating this year the Jubilee of Hope, it seems to me that we should look in all the religious events of this year, for signs of hope in the Lord. With this lens, let’s approach the Word of God we hear in Mass this Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Hope for a prophet with unclean lips In the First Reading (Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8), we find a prophet who feels unworthy of proclaiming the Word of God, because he knows that... Read more

Reverent Liturgies at the National Eucharistic Congress?

Last updated on: July 27, 2024 at 1:04 am By Mauricio Pérez

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress in the United States has been the most important stage so far of the National Eucharistic Revival. This movement is a pastoral initiative of the USCCB aimed at recovering, strengthening, and revitalizing faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The congress was held in Indianapolis. Around 50,000 Catholics of all ages, including lay faithful, nuns, and ordained ministers, traveled from all over the country to gather at Lucas Oil Stadium and the... Read more

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress In The United States

Last updated on: July 17, 2024 at 9:04 am By Mauricio Pérez

The 10th National Eucharistic Congress is paramount moment in the National Eucharistic Revival movement initiated by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops —a major pastoral effort to recover the faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, which has been plummeting down through the years in this country. According to a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center, nearly seven-in-ten Catholics (69%) in the United States say they personally believe that during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine... Read more

Did Jesus Have Biological Brothers And Sisters?

Last updated on: June 3, 2025 at 11:11 pm By Mauricio Pérez

After having listened on recent Sundays to different accounts of portentous deeds by Jesus, culminating on the most-impressive revival of Jairus’ daughter, in the Gospel reading on the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time we find Jesus back in Nazareth, unable to perform a single miracle due to the lack of faith of those of his own home [Mk 6:1-6]. As a rabbi, he preaches in the synagogue on sabbath. The crowd who listens to his words, is astonished, even offended.... Read more