Category: Church

  • coadjutor bishop of fort worth

    Msgr. Kevin W. Vann of the clergy of the diocese of Springfield in Illinois, U.S.A., episcopal vicar for the clergy and pastor of the parish of the Blessed Sacrament, as coadjutor bishop of Fort Worth (area 62,007, population 2,770,961, Catholics 400,501, priests 115, permanent deacons 74, religious 160), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Springfield…

  • pope benedict xvi: pope party!

    The evening of the Pope’s election last week, we celebrated the event like all good college students should: with a party. A couple of people enjoyed German beer in honor of his country of origin, we flew the Vatican flag out front, chatted and watched the news coverage of our new Holy Father. There are…

  • installation mass details

    The Papal Installation Mass has ended and I wanted to go through a little play-by-play of what happened. The Mass started at the Trophaeum of St. Peter, the chest above the tomb of St. Peter where the pallia are kept. Traditionally, pallia are made from the wool of lambds. These lambs were blessed on January…

  • apostolica sedes vacans: general congregation meetings

    On April 7th, the 5th General Congregation met with 140 cardinals. The Cardinals delegated to Edmund Cardinal Szoka the ability to mint coins and stamps for the Vacant See. The cardinals also finalized and published the order for the start of the conclave. The Cardinals did not meet on April 8th due to Pope John…

  • pope john paul ii: final testament

    I’m very behind on reflecting upon the events of the past few weeks; partly my schedule and partly how overwhelming it all has been. The Will of Pope John Paul II was released on April 7, 2005 by the Vatican. Unlike what we usually think of as a will, for the Pope, this was a…

  • pope benedict xvi starts his ministry

    Currently, as I type, Pope Benedict XVI is giving his homily to the faithful during his Installation Mass. During this Mass, the Pontiff is given the Pallium and the Fisherman’s Ring. The Pallium is a band that is placed over the shoulder of a metropolitan archbishop that has two pendants that hangs down in front…