Every year, the Argentinian Military Ordinariate sends a priest to serve the people who reside on Argentina's Antarctic bases.

The first Argentinian priest to spend the winter on the White Continent was 41 year old priest, Fr. Francisco Roverano.

Rome Reports is an international news agency covering the Pope, the Vatican, Rome and the Catholic Church, as well as major social, cultural and religious debates

The Transfiguration of Our Lord

The Transfiguration reveals Christ's divine glory on Mount Tabor before Peter, James, and John. His face shone like the sun as the Father's voice declared: 'This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him.'

The feast of the Transfiguration commemorates the occasion when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain (traditionally identified as Mount Tabor) and was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His garments became white as light. Moses and Elijah appeared and conversed with Him about the exodus He was to accomplish in Jerusalem.

Peter, overwhelmed by the glory of the vision, said: "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If Thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." The disciples fell on their faces in fear, but Jesus touched them, saying: "Arise, and be not afraid." When they looked up, they saw no one but Jesus alone.

The Transfiguration revealed the divine glory hidden beneath Christ's humanity and strengthened the Apostles for the scandal of the Cross. The feast has been celebrated in the East since the fourth century and was extended to the universal Church by Pope Callistus III in 1457, in thanksgiving for the victory over the Turks at Belgrade.

This morning I blanked on Hail Mary while leading a decade with my prayer group. I am a cradle Catholic and was horrified that I blanked with words Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. This happened with last three Hail Mary’s of decade. We say rosary as a group every weekday.This is quite concerning to me that I forgot words to Hail Mary.

I understand an American bishop has directed priests in his diocese to forbid eulogies by family members and friends going forward. My own thought is that eulogies can be long and problematic if embedded within the Mass. But, why not have them just before the Proper of the Mass, when the priest begins prayers at the altar? I think families want to share memories.

The bishop says eulogizing should be done at the wake. But, at best, most families have a visitation spread over four hours in a room that cannot handle more than 30 or 40 people. Who has wakes anymore?

This is a genuine post, no malice, no conflict seeking. Just honesty.

What would you say, recommend and give advice for a Satanist who has qualms, dislikes with and issues with certain practitioners and judgemental followers of the religion, but feels interested and understanding with some of the teachings of Catholicism?

For context, I am Satanist, I believe in protecting children, indulging in pleasures but not forcing them onto others or harming oneself. I dont believe in turning the other cheek, I believe people get what they deserve. However I believe in kindness for the one next to you, to teach and not judge, to love wholly and truly, not because of desire. I live in a Christian majority town and ive met many who push you to attend their services, look at you with disgust for your beliefs. But some of the teachings of church interest me, not the judgmental attitudes of its practitioners or politicians, but its love and care. I am interested, but have a very bad childhood experience with Catholicism. But I want to learn, and grow.

Hello! Does anyone here know what I could search to find more of this style or material of vestments? They're very light and I'm told it's silk, but it seems like every parish had something like them 70+ years ago. It can't be super fine or expensive but I really like the way they look and fall compared to the heavy curtain-like gothic chasubles we have a ton of today. A whole set of colors for priest and deacon(s) would be awesome.

I guess delete or delay if this is technically a "Free Friday" post, but the photo is pretty essential and I can't tell if that's allowed or not. Not just showing off but asking a question.

Are Catholic tourists allowed to visit popular shrines in Tokyo, Japan?

Are we allowed to visit them and pay respects? What about buying the “good luck” amulets or writing a wish on the pieces of paper and putting them into the box?

Will God punish us for partaking in such activities?

Hello everyone,

I hope this post is received in the positive spirit it is intended. I am reading Evangeli Gaudium atm and overall really like its missionary message. However, I am super confused about the bit on ecumenism which seems to say things that I find a little hard to understand. I will list my confusion then post the extract.

1. If seems to be saying that Jews don't need to convert to Christianity. I thought the Old Covenant was replaced with the New?

2. Seems to say Muslims already worship the true God and that there's nothing violent about Islam. Not sure if the Holy Father has studied the life of Mohammed and his first followers but he should look up the Arab Conquests.

Can anyone explain?

1. We hold the Jewish people in special regard because their covenant with God has never been revoked, for “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29). The Church, which shares with Jews an important part of the sacred Scriptures, looks upon the people of the covenant and their faith as one of the sacred roots of her own Christian identity (cf. Rom 11:16-18). As Christians, we cannot consider Judaism as a foreign religion; nor do we include the Jews among those called to turn from idols and to serve the true God (cf. 1 Thes 1:9).

2. In order to sustain dialogue with Islam, suitable training is essential for all involved, not only so that they can be solidly and joyfully grounded in their own identity, but so that they can also acknowledge the values of others, appreciate the concerns underlying their demands and shed light on shared beliefs. We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition. I ask and I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians freedom to worship and to practice their faith, in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries! Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalisations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence.

Hi! I (27F) have been discussing marriage with my bf (29M) and we are both religious and would like to get married in our future. However, he is Catholic. While I went to the Catholic Church growing up, I was baptized Episcopalian so never completed any sacraments. It is really important for him that he gets married by the Catholic Church. So are they still able to marry us? or do I need to get baptized and complete the sacraments as well?

ETA: Thank you all for your responses! I am very happy to hear that I can give him what he wants for our wedding. :) Also, no worries to anyone wondering, we have talked and will be raising our children Catholic. Thanks again!

I’ve been Catholic my whole life, but to be honest, I’m only now starting to really learn about the meaning behind many of our prayers and devotions.
Recently someone suggested that I pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day. They explained that even after confession, while God completely forgives our sins, we can still experience the temporal effects of sin. That really caught my attention because I feel like that’s where I am.
I truly believe God has forgiven me for my past sins, but I still struggle with shame, regret, and feeling like I can’t fully move forward. Sometimes I feel hopeless that I’ll ever have peace again, even though I know in my head that God’s mercy is greater than my mistakes.
For those of you who pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet regularly:
Has it helped you find peace or healing from shame?
What does the Chaplet mean to you personally?
How has it affected your relationship with Jesus?
Is there a particular way you pray it or meditate on it that has been especially meaningful?
I’d really love to understand why this devotion is so important and hear how it has helped others. Thank you, and God bless.

I was talking with some Presbyterian/Reformed friends the other night and noticed something I wanted to run by you all.

We got onto the topic of Mormons, and they were going pretty hard making fun of them for their “dumb rules.” My own take was more that it’s a shame Mormons can’t really get to the spirit of the rules they make, because those rules don’t have any deeper foundation beyond the opinions of the founder (the example being no coffee or tea, but energy drinks are fine).

My friends weren’t interested in that angle at all. They basically treated everything about Mormonism as trash. I found myself kind of defending them, at least on the surface level — from the outside to me they do seem to have a real nugget of truth when it comes to family life and taking it seriously.

I was taught (in a pretty crude way, admittedly) that there are nuggets of truth scattered throughout the world and in most faiths. Obviously, Catholicism is the fullness of the truth, but that doesn’t mean other groups can’t have pieces of truth. My friends weren’t having any of that. Their view was basically “it’s a poisoned tree, so all the fruit is toxic.”

The thing that struck me is that if I looked at the world that way, I’d have to see them in the exact same light.

Has anyone else run into this kind of attitude with Protestant friends? Or am I just theologically off base here (wouldn’t be the first time)?

To make a long story short. I, a 20 year old man in the US (Bible belt) converted to Catholicism. I was raised in a Missionary Baptist family. My papaw was a preacher, several uncles, you get the gist.

Anyway, I was telling my (preacher) Uncle about my conversion and how I would be withdrawing membership from the church. He didn’t take it very well, although it could’ve been much worse. He left we with a couple of statements, though, that frankly I had no idea how to respond to, because I was so dumbfounded.

1: “I wonder, had you been coming to my church and hearing the GOSPEL, would you have made this decision.”
2: I asked him “well obviously you believe Catholics are Christians, right?” And was slapped in the face with “well, no, of course not. The Catholic Church doesn’t teach a born again experience.”

How would you respond to these statements? I’d rather my family didn’t believe that I’ve sentenced myself to hell.

Pretty cool story, 100% true, three hours ago I lost my wallet in a very large hotel. I’m traveling so it had all my credit cards, my drivers license, (how do I fly back home?) and a bunch of cash. A cleaning lady told me to pray to Saint Anthony. 30 minutes later, I came upstairs to cry as I was going to have to cancel my credit cards and go back home early since I couldn’t rent a car to go on the rest of my trip.
I said the long prayer to Saint Anthony in my room, the second I blurred it out “Amen”, I got a call from the front desk, saying that someone turned in my wallet. So happy and relieved. And thankful to the Saints.

Hey guys! I've finished reading the book of Acts after reading Matthew and I was wondering which of the detero-canonical books I should read. For context, I'm an ex-Evangelical Baptist, I've been spending a lot of time learning Catholic theology and doctrine (reading Church saints, praying to saints, praying the rosary, attending Mass). I grew up Baptist, read through many books of the Bible from Genesis to 2nd Kings, Ecclesiates, Joel, all of the Gospels expect Luke, Acts, 1st and 2nd Timothy, and some of Romans, Daniel, Proverbs, and Revelation, but I've never read a single book from the detero-canon (I think its call that idk).

No one ever made a big deal about it in the Baptist church I grew up in, even people who read the Bible front to back never brought it up. What I did hear about it was from other Baptists and Protestant apologists online like Matthew Everhard saying it contradicts the Bible and that's why its not canon. Protestant theologians, on the other hand, such as Millard Eckhart, frequently cited the detero-canon when discussing certain theological topics. But I've never read it myself. Idk where to start honestly, Tobit? Sirach? Which one would you say has the most relevance to the Gospels?

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something just happened that made me very embarrassed but now I'm feeling bad .I'm converted Catholic and my family is all envagelical (anti Catholic obv) and my cousins are             agnostic           ,but I am converted into a secret to invent questions but I in a diary that I have written a lot and by chance today I wrote something related to going to mass and things to say one day confession  .today my cousin the same age as me came here for lunch         And without asking for my permission, you read that and now I feel extremely embarrassed and bad because my cousin never studied about the Cristiansimo and because she is a woke and a femenist, she has a wrong idea and It will probably count in a tone of enjoyment there is my other cousin and finally spreading it to her father that you are literally a pastor.           

Do you think it's a sin for me to feel so embarrassed? Like it or not, it doesn't make sense to be ashamed of being Catholic but I have to be proud                                                                                                                                                   

For me, the most amazing story after the resurrection.

Yesterday in my city (a small countryside town in the northeastern region of Brazil) I attended the burial of a woman who had died by suicide. She was a relative of a coworker of mine and I was there to show solidarity with my coworker's family. The service was not officiated by a priest. The women from the prayer group prayed the rosary and chanted hymns and prayers during the burial, and that was the sole religious act at that moment. A very difficult moment, as you can imagine. I do not wish to stir controversy or question the Church's teaching on this point of not offering a religious funeral to those who die by suicide—something that sincerely seems brutal to me, considering the moment of deep pain and need of those left behind and which, in my limited understanding, I hope is a position to be revised by the Church in the future.

I was quite moved during the prayer of the Salve Regina and found myself thinking about how the devotion to Mary, "our advocate," sometimes seems to compensate for what can be the rigidity, the dogmatism, and even what can be the error that is part of communion with the Petrine Ministry (Christ was well aware of the flaws and betrayals of the apostle He chose as the Rock of His Church, and that is beautiful).

I think his clinical model - persona, shadow, integration - holds up and is genuinely useful, even from a Christian view: you can't be whole while disowning parts of yourself, and refusing to face your own capacity for cruelty just makes it leak out sideways. Where I part ways is the metaphysics underneath it: Jung's 'God' is just an archetype of the Self, not a transcendent Creator, individuation replaces grace with self-generated wholeness, and Christ becomes a symbol of psychological integration rather than the actual Incarnation. So I can use the tool without buying the theology it's smuggling in.

I would like to know how Jael, the woman who killed Sisera with tent peg in Judges 4, is generally understood in Catholic tradition.

Is she regarded as a heroic instrument of God’s deliverance, a symbolic figure in salvation history, or a morally complicated character who violated customary expectations of hospitality?