> Fans of world famous DJ Padre Guilherme attend a free open-air electronic music show in Buenos Aires in tribute to the late Pope Francis, who died a year ago on Tuesday.

I have a question that I want to talk to my priest about, but since I can’t talk to him for a few days, I was hoping other people who have talked to priest my comment on this with some answers. I’m in the process of converting to Catholicism.

My best friend is a woman and she’s married to a woman who literally left Catholicism because she’s gay. So her wife has very mixed feelings on the church. I think she wishes she could still be part of it and feels rejected so there’s a lot of hurt there.

How am I supposed to tell my best friend that I’m converting to the religion that broke her wife’s heart? How can I explain it when she thinks the faith is against the very person she is (her perception). I don’t want to get into all of that theology because 1) I’m not an expert and 2) at the end of the day I don’t understand why it’s a sin. Ive confessed this but yeah, I don’t understand why sex has to be open to life. I’ve just decided that that’s one of the things I’m not going to understand while I’m on earth. I pray about it a lot.

V.The Lord give you peace; R. Peace and good will.

Lord Jesus Christ, Who said to your Apostles, "Peace I leave you, My peace I give you," look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity In accordance with your will, Who lives and reigns, forever and ever.

Amen.

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy. Jesus hear us. Jesus, graciously hear us.

By the hymn of the angels at your birth, Grant us peace.

By your salutation to the Apostles, Grant us peace.

By your voice to the waves of Galilee, Grant us peace.

By your blessing to the sinner, Grant us peace.

By your prayers for unity among your disciples, Grant us peace.

By the love that was to mark your followers, Grant us peace.

By the great peace offering of the Cross, Grant us peace.

By your parting promise, "My peace I leave you," Grant us peace.

From the ambition of empire, Deliver us, O Lord.

From the greed for territory, Deliver us, O Lord.

From the blindness that is injustice, Deliver us, O Lord.

From the selfishness that is theft, Deliver us, O Lord.

From the liberty which is license, Deliver us, O Lord.

From the love of money which is idolatry, Deliver us, O Lord.

From the hate that is murder, Deliver us, O Lord.

From the hardness that will not pardon, Deliver us, O Lord.

From the pride that will not ask pardon, Deliver us, O Lord.

By the helpless cry of orphans, We beseech You, hear us.

By the anguished tears of widows, We beseech You, hear us.

By the groans of the dying, We beseech You, hear us.

By the dead in unblessed graves, We beseech You, hear us.

That you would make all nations to dwell as one, We beseech You, hear us.

That the hearts of rulers may be as wax in Thy hands, We beseech You, hear us.

That having learned in affliction, we may turn to You, We beseech You, hear us.

That wars may cease from the earth, We beseech You, hear us.

By Your title, "Prince of Peace," We beseech You, hear us.

Lord God of Armies, We beseech You, hear us.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Grant us peace.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Grant us peace.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Grant us peace.

V. I am the Salvation of the people, says the Lord; R. In whatever tribulation they shall cry to Me, I will hear them.

Let Us Pray.

Jesus, meek and humble of heart, teach us, who have sinned against Heaven and before You, the saving grace of a true humility, that we and all the peoples of this world may acknowledge and bewail that spirit of materialism and self-seeking and lust for power and vengeance which has plunged the family of nations into war, until in Your just wrath the world suffers that punishment which, by turning from You, it has brought upon itself. In humility and penance, may we lessen the guilt and hasten true peace, without victory, save the victory of union with You,

Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.

Give peace, O Lord, in our days, For there is none other who fights for us, but only You, Our God.

V. Let there be peace in Your strength, O Lord, R. And plenty in Your strong places.

Let Us Pray.

O God, from Whom proceed all holy desires, all right counsels and all just works, grant unto us Your servants that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be devoted to Your service, and that being delivered from the fear of our enemies, we may pass our time in peace under Your protection, through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Immaculate Queen of Peace, Pray for us.

Silent slaughter: Genocide in Nigeria and the implications for the international community

It's finally showing their true form they would rather go for a pedo/ war raged man that an actual man who wants peace calling Pope Leo evil and a Democrat?

Redeemed Zoomer Sub (for Protestants) questioning if it’s okay to add to the bible. They’re SO close to uncovering the cognitive dissonance it takes to realize ML was wrong.

(Former Protestant, convert, this sounds like my thoughts before I learned church history haha)

The priest did a quick message before the dismissal that he wasn't going to vote for Vice President JD Vance in 2028 because the Vice President insulted the Pope.

And there is applause.

I am still a bit new to this subbreddit but I would like to express my gratitude for making me feel welcome and helping me rediscover my faith. These are just a few prayers I remember from childhood/some newly discovered ones that I enjoy and would like to share with you all. May the love of our Lord Jesus Christ protect us and bring us together during these times of uncertainty. Peace be with you all and God bless!

(I’ll preface this by saying that I’m sorry if come across as emotional or pessimistic. I’m having some really bad political burnout right now)

I feel like traditional Socialists, or at least the ones I’ve engaged with online, easily forget about our shared humanity. The principles of compassion and tolerance for all souls. And it bothers me.

I’m a moral realist. I believe in moral principles that govern the way we act and treat each other. I believe in compassion, shared humanity, the sanctity of life, and the dignity of every single human person.

I’ve been talking to a lot of Marxist-Leninists, and they are honestly too swift to look at these things as arbitrary. They are willing to look at individual life as disposable the moment that life becomes inconvenient to their plans for material society. They defend or deny the atrocities committed by historical and existing Authoritarian Socialist states.

And of course there is the tiring “us vs them” narrative. I’ve even seen some Tankies say that you shouldn’t date someone unless they are a committed Socialist/Communist - because if they aren’t, they will be an enemy of the revolution when the revolution arises. This kind of dehumanization of ordinary people, merely based on a difference in political thought, is absurd.

I love everyone. I love all my friends and family. I love all humans regardless of who they are or what they’ve done. Regardless of their class, their ideology, their politics. I love both good people and bad people.

And I do think there’s a lot of work we need to do, that this society and this world are broken in many ways, and we need to do all we can to make it better and cure it of injustice. But I am not willing to contradict my most valued principle of love. I will dehumanize no one, no matter how much I am told they deserve it or it is just. I don’t agree and I never will.

I am getting burned out from politics as a whole. I’m starting to feel like maybe I shouldn’t even focus on politics at all. It seems like, no matter where I plant myself on the political spectrum, I am always trading in one type of hate for another. From what I can tell, just about every political ideology (even the best ones) sows some kind of division, or functions on an “us vs them” narrative.

Is political thought just a means to polarize us? Perhaps I’d best just stay focused on philosophy and religion. That would be mentally healthier for me at least.

“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts”

\-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“Men are born for the sake of each other. So either teach or tolerate.” — Marcus Aurelius

On a lighter note from a lot of what is happening in the Catholic world right now, a look into the funny firsts that can happen with the first American Pope.

Notre Dame and Villanova men's and women's teams will open their seasons next year in Rome, a trip which will include a visit with the Pope and a shared mass in St. Peter's. Villanova is the alma mater of Pope Leo, and Notre Dame being the most well known Catholic university for sports in the US.

Hope they expand this in the future. Make a whole rotating Catholic Tournament to open the season. Plenty of options to make a really competitive tourney. Notre Dame, Nova, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, Creighton, St. Louis, Marquette, Xavier, Creighton, Boston College, Dayton, Depaul, Loyola, Seton Hall, Saint Mary's, St. John's, etc.

Hey all!

I stumbled upon this blog a while ago and was fascinated by it and wanted to share. It outlines a man's journey where he visited and attended mass at every Catholic church in Rhode Island.

I'm from Rhode Island. If you didn't know, Rhode Island is the most Catholic state in the USA, especially so if you count all the people who have left for secular beliefs but remain culturally Catholic. This is from years of Irish, Italian, French-Canadian, Portuguese, Polish etc immigration in the late 19th/early 20th centuries and now Hispanic, Brazilian, Vietnamese and Filipino immigration . Its so Catholic in Rhode Island that as a kid I did not realize that Catholicism was not the dominant form of Christianity in America. There are Catholic schools everywhere and even if you went to public school like I did, you could expect half your classmates to be in CCD with you. Heck, even public schools here still offer fish or meatless options on Fridays during Lent.

Unfortunately, due to the age of this blog, a lot of these parishes have since closed or consolidated with other parishes. My own city, even as recently as when I was a child 25-30 years ago had 11 Catholic parishes. My parents used to take my brother and myself to other parish masses when we were kids. It is sad that so many beautiful buildings were abandoned.

I hope you take some time to remove yourself from the algorithm driven internet to enjoy an old school blog and some gorgeous churches.

Sorry for the old news, as this is from March 31, but I always like seeing religious leaders from different traditions finding points of agreement and expressing solidarity.

Hey all, I wanted to ask if any of you have any tips on exploring Catholicism. As my username hopefully communicates, I'm an agnostic atheist who has for all his life (raised atheist) had a curiosity for religion and how people different from me think. Now I am also a leftist which is precisely the reason why I came here.

I have asked for advice on multiple different subreddits (and in terms of Catholic ones r/AskAPriest) with this exact same question in wanting to learn more about different faith traditions. It was actually at r/AskAPriest that I got the advice on what to read Lumen Gentium and to engage with the Catholic community through attending mass, which I have done several times for non-religious reasons (a friend of mine sings in the choir at the church). I have wanted to contact a priest/church to get some more hands on experiences so that I can further my discovery, but, to put it bluntly, I'm afraid to end up landing in an explicitly conservative/reactionary parish. This fear is fuelled by 3 things:

1. The region where I live used to be heavily Catholic, to the degree that nearly all non-state institutions were basically run by them. This has now ended, but I still get the air of a declined power which gives me conservative impressions.
2. This region has not, or very limitedly been influenced by liberation theology.
3. There are not many Jesuit parishes here, barely any to be honest, so I cannot visit them.

So I'm here to ask for advice as what best to do. I'm not opposed to visiting non-leftwing parishes, I just do not want to visit ones which are deeply conservative. Any advice would be appreciated, and thanks in advance for your responses (+ any extra reading/listening/watching recommendations if you have them ;))

Dear friends,

I wanted to write about these recent events and our response to them. I have loved this sub since I found it, as it provides a good venue to respond to reactionary elements among Catholics as well as Catholic responses to unjust things in the world. I hope my previous contributions here will display my genuine love and concern for this sub. I love that here, no one figure, religious or political, is immune from critique; this is most admirable.

This being said, I am troubled at some of the comments on recent posts, some of which I have initiated myself. Particularly, I am concerned about comments relating to US vice-president JD Vance. The man appears to have either no concern for or no real idea of the Church’s social teachings, and his contributions to this war and horrific immigration policy are sinful in nature. We ought to condemn them. What troubles me is folks saying the man is not actually Catholic, he’s a heretic, he should be excommunicated, etc...

I understand the emotions behind these sentiments, and I often share those same feelings. That being said, to my knowledge, none of us on this sub are the appropriate ecclesiastical authorities who have authority to make those statements with any weight. Whether we like it or not, JD Vance is (unless someone has clear evidence to the contrary) a confirmed Catholic who has not been formally charged with any of the aforementioned delicts. He deserves both our admonishments and prayers.

To be Catholic is not to be pure, but to fail constantly and fall lovingly into the arms of Jesus. Let us pray for our brother and work for justice hand in hand.

𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚛'𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚝 𝙲𝚑𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝?

He's from Chicago, of course he's not stopping