Podcast appearances and mentions of Roman Curia

The Roman Curia was the subject of a Francis "reform" effort. That effort will continue, or so it appears. Will that bleed over to other parts of the Church?Sponsored by Charity Mobilehttps://www.charitymobile.com/rtt.phpSources:https://www.returntotradition.orgContact Me:Email: return2catholictradition@gmail.comSupport My Work:Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/AnthonyStineSubscribeStarhttps://www.subscribestar.net/return-to-traditionBuy Me A Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/AnthonyStinePhysical Mail:Anthony StinePO Box 3048Shawnee, OK74802Follow me on the following social media:https://www.facebook.com/ReturnToCatholicTradition/https://twitter.com/pontificatormax+JMJ+

The Roman Curia was the subject of a Francis "reform" effort. That effort will continue, or so it appears. Will that bleed over to other parts of the Church?Sponsored by Charity Mobilehttps://www.charitymobile.com/rtt.phpSources:https://www.returntotradition.orgContact Me:Email: return2catholictradition@gmail.comSupport My Work:Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/AnthonyStineSubscribeStarhttps://www.subscribestar.net/return-to-traditionBuy Me A Coffeehttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/AnthonyStinePhysical Mail:Anthony StinePO Box 3048Shawnee, OK74802Follow me on the following social media:https://www.facebook.com/ReturnToCatholicTradition/https://twitter.com/pontificatormax+JMJ+

Habemus Papam! History! A miracle! The first ever Pope, Successor to St Peter, Vicar of Christ, from The United States! Also, a word about my guests in the second part of my interview segment this week: two friends who have been in Rome for many years, John and Ashley Noronha. Anyone in Rome with even a remote link to the Church – people working in the Vatican, the Roman Curia, our seminary here in Rome, etc – will have at some point crossed paths with Ashley and John! They have wonderful individual stories but together, as a couple, their story is the Truth and Beauty Project. So tune in this weekend to learn about immersion in Truth and Beauty!

Habemus Papam! History! A miracle! The first ever Pope, Successor to St Peter, Vicar of Christ, from The United States! Also, a word about my guests in the second part of my interview segment this week: two friends who have been in Rome for many years, John and Ashley Noronha. Anyone in Rome with even a remote link to the Church – people working in the Vatican, the Roman Curia, our seminary here in Rome, etc – will have at some point crossed paths with Ashley and John! They have wonderful individual stories but together, as a couple, their story is the Truth and Beauty Project. So tune in this weekend to learn about immersion in Truth and Beauty!

"In the beginning, God administrated." For as Donald Prudlo observes, "There can be no achievement without administration." In this book he seeks to restore the idea that while administration is necessary even in the institutional Church, holiness is not only possible for those charged with governance, but is a fulfillment and type of Christus Rector omnium, or "Christ, Ruler of all." Scrutinizing the relevant thought of Aristotle, Machiavelli, Thomas Aquinas, and Nietzsche, among others, Prudlo pursues the notion of order in governance and confronts both the bloat of bureaucracy and the "intoxicating nature of power." How can men and women who strive to live out humility and holiness likewise establish and participate in the structures that wield the powers of governance? Four early popes are given close attention for their respective administrations: Damasus I, Leo I, Gelasius I, and Gregory I. Emphasis is also given to the specific administrative genius that emerges from the monastic orders, including the 'Pachomian solution' and the Benedictine Rule. Governing Perfection (St. Augustine's Press, 2024) is an important contribution to the history of the papacy and origins of the modern-day Roman Curia, ecclesiology and its relevance to legal ordering, and administration within governance as affected by multiple legal and cultural traditions. It is a masterful presentation that provides both the framework and reflection needed to inspire true perfection the in administrative forum. The relevance and force of Prudlo's Governing Perfection makes it a choice follow-up to his recent translation of Bartholomew of the Martyr's classic, Stimulus Pastorum: A Charge to Pastors (2022). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this second weekend without a Pope! Such a strange feeling! Most of VI's news segment this week will, of course, be dedicated to this period known as the sede vacante – the vacant see – from which we get our word vacancy! Another word is interregnum – the period between two reigning pontiffs. First, a word about my guests in the interview segment this week: two friends who have been in Rome for many years, John and Ashley Noronha. Anyone in Rome with even a remote link to the Church – people working in the Vatican, the Roman Curia, our seminary here in Rome, etc – will have at some point crossed paths with Ashley and John! They have wonderful individual stories but together, as a couple, their story is the Truth and Beauty Project. So tune in this weekend to learn about immersion in Truth and Beauty!

"In the beginning, God administrated." For as Donald Prudlo observes, "There can be no achievement without administration." In this book he seeks to restore the idea that while administration is necessary even in the institutional Church, holiness is not only possible for those charged with governance, but is a fulfillment and type of Christus Rector omnium, or "Christ, Ruler of all." Scrutinizing the relevant thought of Aristotle, Machiavelli, Thomas Aquinas, and Nietzsche, among others, Prudlo pursues the notion of order in governance and confronts both the bloat of bureaucracy and the "intoxicating nature of power." How can men and women who strive to live out humility and holiness likewise establish and participate in the structures that wield the powers of governance? Four early popes are given close attention for their respective administrations: Damasus I, Leo I, Gelasius I, and Gregory I. Emphasis is also given to the specific administrative genius that emerges from the monastic orders, including the 'Pachomian solution' and the Benedictine Rule. Governing Perfection (St. Augustine's Press, 2024) is an important contribution to the history of the papacy and origins of the modern-day Roman Curia, ecclesiology and its relevance to legal ordering, and administration within governance as affected by multiple legal and cultural traditions. It is a masterful presentation that provides both the framework and reflection needed to inspire true perfection the in administrative forum. The relevance and force of Prudlo's Governing Perfection makes it a choice follow-up to his recent translation of Bartholomew of the Martyr's classic, Stimulus Pastorum: A Charge to Pastors (2022). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

"In the beginning, God administrated." For as Donald Prudlo observes, "There can be no achievement without administration." In this book he seeks to restore the idea that while administration is necessary even in the institutional Church, holiness is not only possible for those charged with governance, but is a fulfillment and type of Christus Rector omnium, or "Christ, Ruler of all." Scrutinizing the relevant thought of Aristotle, Machiavelli, Thomas Aquinas, and Nietzsche, among others, Prudlo pursues the notion of order in governance and confronts both the bloat of bureaucracy and the "intoxicating nature of power." How can men and women who strive to live out humility and holiness likewise establish and participate in the structures that wield the powers of governance? Four early popes are given close attention for their respective administrations: Damasus I, Leo I, Gelasius I, and Gregory I. Emphasis is also given to the specific administrative genius that emerges from the monastic orders, including the 'Pachomian solution' and the Benedictine Rule. Governing Perfection (St. Augustine's Press, 2024) is an important contribution to the history of the papacy and origins of the modern-day Roman Curia, ecclesiology and its relevance to legal ordering, and administration within governance as affected by multiple legal and cultural traditions. It is a masterful presentation that provides both the framework and reflection needed to inspire true perfection the in administrative forum. The relevance and force of Prudlo's Governing Perfection makes it a choice follow-up to his recent translation of Bartholomew of the Martyr's classic, Stimulus Pastorum: A Charge to Pastors (2022). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"In the beginning, God administrated." For as Donald Prudlo observes, "There can be no achievement without administration." In this book he seeks to restore the idea that while administration is necessary even in the institutional Church, holiness is not only possible for those charged with governance, but is a fulfillment and type of Christus Rector omnium, or "Christ, Ruler of all." Scrutinizing the relevant thought of Aristotle, Machiavelli, Thomas Aquinas, and Nietzsche, among others, Prudlo pursues the notion of order in governance and confronts both the bloat of bureaucracy and the "intoxicating nature of power." How can men and women who strive to live out humility and holiness likewise establish and participate in the structures that wield the powers of governance? Four early popes are given close attention for their respective administrations: Damasus I, Leo I, Gelasius I, and Gregory I. Emphasis is also given to the specific administrative genius that emerges from the monastic orders, including the 'Pachomian solution' and the Benedictine Rule. Governing Perfection (St. Augustine's Press, 2024) is an important contribution to the history of the papacy and origins of the modern-day Roman Curia, ecclesiology and its relevance to legal ordering, and administration within governance as affected by multiple legal and cultural traditions. It is a masterful presentation that provides both the framework and reflection needed to inspire true perfection the in administrative forum. The relevance and force of Prudlo's Governing Perfection makes it a choice follow-up to his recent translation of Bartholomew of the Martyr's classic, Stimulus Pastorum: A Charge to Pastors (2022). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to Vatican Insider on this second weekend without a Pope! Such a strange feeling! Most of VI's news segment this week will, of course, be dedicated to this period known as the sede vacante – the vacant see – from which we get our word vacancy! Another word is interregnum – the period between two reigning pontiffs. First, a word about my guests in the interview segment this week: two friends who have been in Rome for many years, John and Ashley Noronha. Anyone in Rome with even a remote link to the Church – people working in the Vatican, the Roman Curia, our seminary here in Rome, etc – will have at some point crossed paths with Ashley and John! They have wonderful individual stories but together, as a couple, their story is the Truth and Beauty Project. So tune in this weekend to learn about immersion in Truth and Beauty!

Welcome to America magazine's Conclave Podcast. Our editors are on the ground in Rome covering the conclave to elect the next pope.  In today's episode from Rome, the team discusses: President Donald Trump's choice for pope The latest from the cardinal pre-conclave meetings The question: Will the next pope be an Italian? The unfinished business of Pope Francis' papacy, including: synodality, fighting sexual abuse, reforming Vatican governance and an ecumenical trip to Turkey on the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea   This episode features: Sam Sawyer, S.J., America's editor in chief  Sebastian Gomes, America's executive editor of audio and video Colleen Dulle, co-host of America's “Inside the Vatican” podcast Ashley McKinless, executive editor and co-host of America's “Jesuitical” podcast Zac Davis, director of digital strategy and co-host of America's “Jesuitical” podcast Sign up for America's subscriber-exclusive “Conclave Diary” daily newsletter and get all of our extensive coverage at: AmericaMagazine.org/Subscribe Links from the show: Cardinals say they are expecting a short conclave Watch: Trump jokes he'd ‘like to be Pope' Synodality—and ‘controversial' issues—are here to stay: Takeaways from the Synod's final document The four signs of a truly synodal church Pope Francis issues new rules for accountability and response to allegations of sexual abuse Pope Francis' new sex abuse rules are a revolution for the Catholic Church Vatican to consider classifying ‘spiritual abuse' as new Catholic crime With Pope Francis' reform of the Roman Curia, nine years of work is coming to fruition Podcast: Pope Francis' Roman Curia reform, explained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to America magazine's Conclave Podcast. Our editors are on the ground in Rome covering the conclave to elect the next pope.  In today's episode from Rome, the team discusses: President Donald Trump's choice for pope The latest from the cardinal pre-conclave meetings The question: Will the next pope be an Italian? The unfinished business of Pope Francis' papacy, including: synodality, fighting sexual abuse, reforming Vatican governance and an ecumenical trip to Turkey on the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea   This episode features: Sam Sawyer, S.J., America's editor in chief  Sebastian Gomes, America's executive editor of audio and video Colleen Dulle, co-host of America's “Inside the Vatican” podcast Ashley McKinless, executive editor and co-host of America's “Jesuitical” podcast Zac Davis, director of digital strategy and co-host of America's “Jesuitical” podcast Sign up for America's subscriber-exclusive “Conclave Diary” daily newsletter and get all of our extensive coverage at: AmericaMagazine.org/Subscribe Links from the show: Cardinals say they are expecting a short conclave Watch: Trump jokes he'd ‘like to be Pope' Synodality—and ‘controversial' issues—are here to stay: Takeaways from the Synod's final document The four signs of a truly synodal church Pope Francis issues new rules for accountability and response to allegations of sexual abuse Pope Francis' new sex abuse rules are a revolution for the Catholic Church Vatican to consider classifying ‘spiritual abuse' as new Catholic crime With Pope Francis' reform of the Roman Curia, nine years of work is coming to fruition Podcast: Pope Francis' Roman Curia reform, explained Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

pWotD Episode 2911: Pope Benedict XVI Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 624,120 views on Monday, 21 April 2025 our article of the day is Pope Benedict XVI.Pope Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus XVI; Italian: Benedetto XVI; German: Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, German: [ˈjoːzɛf ˈʔaːlɔɪ̯s ˈʁat͡sɪŋɐ]; (16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Upon his resignation, Benedict chose to be known as "Pope emeritus", and he retained this title until his death in 2022.Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger embarked on an academic career and established himself as a highly regarded theologian by the late 1950s. He was appointed a full professor in 1958 when aged 31. After a long career as a professor of theology at several German universities, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and created a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977, an unusual promotion for someone with little pastoral experience. In 1981, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important dicasteries of the Roman Curia. From 2002 until he was elected pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals. Before becoming pope, he had been "a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century"; he had had an influence "second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions" as one of John Paul II's closest confidants.Benedict's writings were prolific and generally defended traditional Catholic doctrine, values, and liturgy. He was originally a liberal theologian but adopted conservative views after 1968. During his papacy, Benedict advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularisation of many Western countries. He viewed relativism's denial of objective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. Benedict also revived several traditions and permitted greater use of the Tridentine Mass. He strengthened the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, promoted the use of Latin, and reintroduced traditional papal vestments, for which reason he was called "the pope of aesthetics". He also established personal ordinariates for former Anglicans and Methodists joining the Catholic Church. Benedict's handling of sexual abuse cases within the Catholic Church and opposition to usage of condoms in areas of high HIV transmission was substantially criticised by public health officials, anti-AIDS activists, and victim's rights organizations.On 11 February 2013, Benedict announced his (effective 28 February 2013) resignation, citing a "lack of strength of mind and body" due to his advanced age. His resignation was the first by a pope since Gregory XII in 1415, and the first without external pressure since Celestine V in 1294. He was succeeded by Francis on 13 March 2013 and moved into the newly renovated Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City for his retirement. In addition to his native German language, Benedict had some level of proficiency in French, Italian, English, and Spanish. He also knew Portuguese, Latin, Biblical Hebrew, and Biblical Greek. He was a member of several social science academies, such as the French Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 03:27 UTC on Tuesday, 22 April 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Pope Benedict XVI on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Niamh.

pWotD Episode 2853: Pope Francis Welcome to Popular Wiki of the Day, spotlighting Wikipedia's most visited pages, giving you a peek into what the world is curious about today.With 234,756 views on Saturday, 22 February 2025 our article of the day is Pope Francis.Pope Francis (Latin: Franciscus; Italian: Francesco; Spanish: Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope from the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958 after recovering from severe illness. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969; from 1973 to 1979, he was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina; the administrations of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner considered him to be a political rival.Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28 February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in honour of Saint Francis of Assisi. Throughout his public life, Francis has been noted for his humility, emphasis on God's mercy, international visibility as pope, concern for the poor and commitment to interreligious dialogue. He is known for having a less formal approach to the papacy than his predecessors by, for instance, choosing to reside in the Domus Sanctae Marthae guest house rather than in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace used by previous popes.Francis has made women full members of dicasteries in the Roman Curia. He maintains that the Catholic Church should be more sympathetic toward members of the LGBTQ+ community and has stated that while blessings of same-sex unions are not permitted, the individuals can be blessed as long as blessings are not given in a liturgical context. Francis is a critic of unbridled capitalism, consumerism, and overdevelopment; he has made action on climate change a leading focus of his papacy. He is widely interpreted as denouncing the death penalty as intrinsically evil, stating that the Catholic Church is committed to its abolition. In international diplomacy, Francis has criticized the rise of right-wing populism, called for the decriminalization of homosexuality, helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, negotiated a deal with China to define how much influence the Communist Party has in appointing Chinese bishops, and has supported the cause of refugees. He has called on the Western world to increase immigration levels significantly. In 2022, he apologized for the Church's role in the "cultural genocide" of the Canadian Indigenous peoples. On 4 October 2023, Francis convened the beginnings of the Synod on Synodality which was described as the culmination of his papacy and the most important event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 02:08 UTC on Sunday, 23 February 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Pope Francis on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Joey.

FROM THE HALL OF BENEDICTIONS, IN THE VATICAN, POPE FRANCIS' AUDIENCE WITH MEMBERS OF THE ROMAN CURIA FOR THE EXCHANGE OF CHRISTMAS GREETINGS (The content of this podcast is copyrighted by the Dicastery for Communication which, according to its statute, is entrusted to manage and protect the sound recordings of the Roman Pontiff, ensuring that their pastoral character and intellectual property's rights are protected when used by third parties. The content of this podcast is made available only for personal and private use and cannot be exploited for commercial purposes, without prior written authorization by the Dicastery for Communication. For further information, please contact the International Relation Office at relazioni.internazionali@spc.va)

IMAGE CREDIT:  Quirinale.it, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons LINKS St Peter's Colonnade Statues: https://stpetersbasilica.info/Exterior/Colonnades/Saints-List-Colonnades.htm   Vatican bio of Cardinal Zuppi: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_zuppi_mm.html         Matteo Maria Zuppi on FIU's Cardinals Database (by Salvadore Miranda): https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios2019.htm#Zuppi      Cardinal Zuppi on Gcatholic.org: http://www.gcatholic.org/p/47959       Cardinal Zuppi on Catholic-Hierarchy.org:  https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bzuppi.html              Archdiocese of Bologna on Gcatholic.org: http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/bolo0.htm?tab=info    Archdiocese of Bologna on Catholic-Hierarchy.org: https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dbolo.html  St Leonard (Colonnade Statue): https://stpetersbasilica.info/Exterior/Colonnades/Saints/St%20Leonard-2/St%20Leonard.htm St Gallicanus (Colonnade Statue): https://stpetersbasilica.info/Exterior/Colonnades/Saints/St%20Gallicanus-1/St%20Gallicanus.htm  Community of Sant'Egidio website: https://www.santegidio.org/pageID/30704/langID/en/PROJECTS.html  Sant'Egidio reporting of conflict mediation and honorary Mozambique citizenship: https://archive.santegidio.org/pageID/3/langID/en/itemID/9207/The-honorary-citizenship-of-Mozambique-to-Andrea-Riccardi-and-Matteo-Zuppi.html Avvenire.it edition of Archbishop Zuppi's forward to the Italian edition of “Building A Bridge” (Italian): https://www.avvenire.it/chiesa/pagine/chiesa-e-persone-lgbt-sul-ponte-dellincontro  Advocate.com reporting on reactions to elevation of Cardinal Zuppi: https://www.advocate.com/religion/2019/9/06/lgbtq-friendly-cleric-named-cardinal-far-right-catholics-appalled#toggle-gdpr    Thank you for listening, and thank my family and friends for putting up with the time investment and for helping me out as needed. As always, feel free to email the show at Popeularhistory@gmail.com  If you would like to financially support Popeular history, go to www.patreon.com/Popeular. If you don't have any money to spare but still want to give back, pray and tell others– prayers and listeners are worth more than gold!   TRANSCRIPT Hello! Quick note before we get started, first off, sorry that my voice is going to sound a little bit off for these next few cardinals, when I started the recording session, I was fine, now I am DEFINITELY feeling it, and am congested as all get out. But! The show does go on. Also, for those of you wondering what happened to the September edition of our worldbuilding episodes, well, it's still September, cool your jets! In the end, what happened is my episode on the Gospel of John got to mammoth proportions and is basically going to be a double episode. I took to Patreon to see whether I should split it up in two to keep it released on time, or keep it as, you know, one Gospel, one episode, and the vote was one Gospel, one episode. So, mega, you know, two-hour long episode on the Gospel of John will be coming later this month. With that, let's go! *THEME* Welcome to Cardinal Numbers, a rexypod ranking all  the Cardinals of the Catholic Church we can get our hands on, from the Catacombs to Kingdom Come.    Check out the show notes for sources, further reading, and a transcript.   Today we're discussing another current Cardinal of the Catholic Church, one of the 120 or so people who will choose the next Pope when the time comes.   Matteo Maria Zuppi was born on October 11, 1955 in Rome, Italy. I don't yet know whether for sure whether Rome is the most popular birthplace for Cardinals as one might suspect--, but I've got a growing certainty and it at least has to be up there. Accordingly, I want to start doing something a little different when we have cardinals born in Rome: let's assign them one of the 140 statues that top the collonades that frame Saint Peter's Square. Now, it's entirely possible that there might be more than 140 Rome-born Cardinals in history, and actually I can now update that to say I *know* that there are more than 140. And given that, we'll just simply find other statues in Rome after that, they're not exactly hard to come by.   Matteo's statue is Saint Leonard of Noblac, a 6th century founding abbot and hermit whose 10 foot 4 statue is probably a bit beyond lifesize and whose expression amused me enough that I immediately reached out to Pontifacts for comment.   But wait, Gregg, you say, because you are very observant, yes, good job, Matteo actually isn't our first Rome-born Cardinal, because, well first off he's not a Cardinal yet in our narrative he was literally just born but apart from that one of the very first Cardinals we talked about, Cardinal Lojudice, was also born in Rome. Which is why I assigned Matteo the *second* statue on the big list from stpetersbasilica.info, which, like every other link you might desire, can be found in the show notes. St Gallicanus was an early 4th century Roman senator, and possibly the first Christian Consul. His relics are at Rome in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle.   Anyways, Matteo is the fifth of six children, and is the Great-grand nephew of Cardinal Carlo Confalonieri, who was elevated to the Cardinalate by Pope John XXIII a few months after his election in 1958. Though this is the first time we've had someone who we can confirm is a relative of another cardinal, it certainly won't be the last–the Roman Curia basically invented nepotism, after all.   That's not to say, by any means, that Matteo himself is lacking in credentials, as we'll see. While he was a high school student, he came across fellow Roman male Andrea Riccardi, who, at the venerable age of eighteen, founded a lay association dedicated to community service. In 1973 when Matteo came in contact with them the community had just moved into the Church of Sant'Egidio in Rome, which would give them their name: the Community of Sant'Egidio. From homeless children to AIDS patients to the elderly, from immigrants to addicts to prisoners, the Community of Sant'Egidio serves the poor and marginalized, and it's fair to say Matteo fell in with the right crowd in his youth.   After his first batch of higher education at La Sapienza University in Rome, where he specialized in Literature and Philosophy, Matteo entered into seminary studies with the Suburbicarian Diocese of Palestrina. I don't know that I've really gone into what a Suburbicarian Diocese is yet but the “suburb” part is a big hint, it's a diocese centered on one of the communities on the outskirts of Rome, in this case, Palestrina, and yes, that's the hometown of a famous composer if that rings a bell.   His se minary studies also included work at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, and then after his 1981 ordination he did yet further study at yet *another* institution of higher education in the Eternal City, this time obtaining a doctorate in letters and philosophy from the University of Rome with a thesis on the History of Christianity–a man after my own heart.   As a priest, Matteo–now Fr. Zuppi–served as vice-pastor of Santa Maria in Trastevere for nearly two decades until he became that parish's full-on pastor in 2000, a role he held until 2010. Of course this is the story of a future Cardinal who I've already told you is plenty qualified, so it won't surprise you to know that that's not all he was doing, not by a long shot. He simultaneously served as Rector of the church of Santa Croce alla Lungara from 1983 to 2012, and continued his association with the Community of Sant'Egidio, which had added the related fields of peacemaking end ecumenism to their portfolio–not as an afterthought either, but as a strong emphasis, as in Fr. Zuppi and the Community were instrumental in negotiations that ended a long civil war in Mozambique in 1992. As in, he was made an honorary citizen of that country by way of thanks, alongside Sant'Egidio founder Andrea Riccardi, popping up again.   While he was originally a priest of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Palestrina, astute listeners may have already noted that, much like the universities, all the parishes I've mentioned, including Sant'Egidio, are in Rome. It's fine, it's fine, he was incardinated into the Diocese of Rome back in ‘88, a sentence which gives me the opportunity to go on both a tangent about how the word inCARDinate is tied to the word CARDinal, both having a fundamental sense of a stationary position around which other things move, and also allows me to note that yeah, it's weird to call Rome a Diocese but in the end yup, officially Rome is a Diocese, rather than an archdiocese or Patriarchate or whatever you might expect. Of course it still acts as a metropolitan and as the principal see, but I expect it's tied to the whole first shall be last humility themed angle, servant of the servants of God sort of thing. And that's not to say that bishops of Rome aren't jealous of their status as the principle See of the entire world.   Anyways, Fr. Zuppi might be a good person to ask more about how all of that works, if you can get ahold of him with all else he has going on, because in 2012 his white phone rang and Pope Benedict made him an Auxiliary Bishop of Rome and titular bishop of Villanova. Rome has a bunch of auxiliaries, currently 7 by that specific title, presumably because the Church loves her numerology, and a few more bishops that help run things at something of a higher level with titles like Vicar General and Viceregent. Bishop Zuppi would not stay in the Diocese of Rome for much longer though, because in 2015 he was made the new Archbishop of Bologna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of what I think it's fair to call central north Italy.   As a pastor, Father–scratch that–Bishop–scratch that–Archbishop Zuppi has continued along the lines of emphasis he honed working with the Community of Sant'Egidio, focusing on real Pope Francis style stuff like the poor and marginalized. He authored books published in 2010, 2013, and 2019 on what I am told are “pastoral themes”, so stuff like that, but he's best known because of his personal involvement in one of the most hot-button of hot-button issues in the modern Church: LGBT issues. In 2017 American Jesuit priest Father James Martin wrote a book called Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter Into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity, which is pretty much what it sounds like. The next year, it was none other than Archbishop Zuppi who wrote a forward to the Italian edition, saying it was, quote “useful for encouraging dialogue, as well as reciprocal knowledge and understanding, in view of a new pastoral attitude that we must seek together with our L.G.B.T. brothers and sisters". He also noted that it would quote "help L.G.B.T. Catholics feel more at home in [I accidentally said “with”, my bad] what is, after all, their church", end quote, and it's worth noting that that second quotation was actually Archbishop Zuppi quoting Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, so it's not like he was a lone voice in praising Father Martin's work.   Of course, I called this a hot-button issue, so praise was not universal. Many see Fr. Martin's work as an attempt to undermine Catholic teaching on gender and sexuality, despite Fr Martin's assurances that it is no such thing, and I admit Father Martin is even more comfortable pushing boundaries than I am, which is saying something. We'll see more conservative takes on this topic as we go, don't worry, this is not the last time we'll talk LGBT+ issues in the Church, but I've accidentally made this the longest episode of Cardinal Numbers to date so we should move on.   In 2019, Pope Francis made Archbishop Zuppi a Cardinal-Priest, assigning him a very special newly minted titular church, Sant'Egidio.   Since his elevation to the cardinalate, Cardinal Zuppi has gained more hats! In 2020 he was made a member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, and i n 2022, Pope Francis selected him as head of the Italian Bishop's Conference. In 2023 he was appointed as a justice of the Vatican City State Supreme Court, which took effect earlier this year, that's 2024 for archive listeners. And that's before we get to the Dicasteries, which we're just going to have to save for another day.   Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi is eligible to participate in future conclaves until he turns 80 in 2035.   Today's episode is part of Cardinal Numbers,  and there will be more Cardinal Numbers next week. Thank you for listening; God bless you all! Thanks, Joe!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION By Reiner Diart - https://bilder.erzbistum-koeln.de/Erzbischof-Rainer-Maria-Kardinal-Woelki/Kardinal_Woelki_RGB_14 , CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83254136  LINKS Vatican bio of Cardinal Woelki: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_woelki_rm.html        Ranier Maria Woelki on FIU's Cardinals Database (by Salvadore Miranda): https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios2012.htm#Woelki     Cardinal Woelki on Gcatholic.org: http://www.gcatholic.org/p/4248          Cardinal Woelki on Catholic-Hierarchy.org: https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bwoel.html             Archdiocese of Cologne on Gcatholic.org: http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/koln0.htm?tab=info   Archdiocese of Cologne on Catholic-Hierarchy.org: https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dkoln.html The History of Cologne podcast by Willem Fromm: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/the-history-of-cologne/2535948  Catholic Education Resource Center's record of 2009 comments on abuse statistics by Archbishop Tomasi: https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/controversy/common-misconceptions/vatican-sets-record-straight-on-sexual-abuse.html  Tages Spiegel reporting on 2020 criticism of Cardinal Woelki from abuse commissioner: https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/panorama/missbrauchsbeauftragter-kritisiert-kolner-kardinal-woelki-scharf-4211776.html  2022 Catholic News Agency reporting on Cardinal Woelki submitting resignation: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250542/german-catholic-cardinal-woelki-submits-resignation-to-pope-francis-after-period-of-leave 2021 Gercke Report: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:b48dfbcd-81c1-41d7-9ca2-62e01a4e5a11  2022 Union of Catholic Asia News reporting on Cologne abuse situation: https://www.ucanews.com/news/head-of-cologne-abuse-investigation-commission-resigns/99638  2023 National Catholic Register reporting on recent search of Cardinal Woelki's records by German law enforcement: https://www.ncregister.com/cna/german-cardinal-woelki-under-investigation-allegations-of-perjury-prompt-search-of-archdiocese  2014 profile of Cardinal Woelki (via Faith Matters- German): https://youtu.be/dudVMptuvZk?si=U3TLKelV_Q_yRdPh    Thank you for listening, and thank my family and friends for putting up with the time investment and for helping me out as needed. As always, feel free to email the show at Popeularhistory@gmail.com  If you would like to financially support Popeular history, go to www.patreon.com/Popeular. If you don't have any money to spare but still want to give back, pray and tell others– prayers and listeners are worth more than gold!   TRANSCRIPT Welcome to Cardinal Numbers, a rexypod ranking all the Cardinals of the Catholic Church we can get our hands on, from the Catacombs to Kingdom Come.   Check out the show notes for sources, further reading, and a transcript.   Today we're discussing another current Cardinal of the Catholic Church, one of the 120 or so people who will choose the next Pope when the time comes.   Please note that this episode includes a general discussion of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. I don't get graphic, but it's there.   Rainer Maria Woelki was born on August 18, 1956 in Cologne, Germany, which is in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the western end of things. With well over a million residents, Cologne is Germany's fourth largest city and is on the short list of cities with their own dedicated longrunning history pod, The History of Cologne by Willem Fromm. Link in the show notes. (https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/the-history-of-cologne/2535948)   In his early 20s, Rainer did some obligatory military service as part of a unit called the Panzerartillerielehrbataillon. I *probably* would have mentioned his service even if it hadn't given me the opportunity to point out that Panzerartillerielehrbataillon is one word, but I guess we'll never know for sure because that was definitely a factor in my editing decisions for this episode.    Anyways, he was ordained a priest in 1985, at the age of 28, pretty much right on pace when you account for that military stint. As a priest of the Archdiocese of Cologne, he not only served in various chaplaincies, but also as private secretary of Cardinal Joachim Meisner, the then-Archbishop of Cologne.   From 1997 to 2003, Woelki served as director of a boarding school for seminarians. During this time he continued his studies, obtaining a Doctorate in Theology from the Pontificia Università della Santa Croce–that is, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross–a school in Rome run by Opus Dei.   Presumably he stopped directing the boarding school in 2003 because his white phone rang- ring ring it's Pope John Paul II, here to make him titular bishop of Scampa and auxiliary bishop of Cologne. He was named a canon of Cologne's metropolitan Cathedral chapter later that year. He got involved in affairs for the German Bishops' Conference, serving on the Commission for vocations and ecclesiastical ministries; and on the Commission for science and culture. As you can see, or at least hear, the titles of offices in bishop's conferences start to read like Roman curial titles, which I suppose isn't too surprising.   Anyways in 2011 that white phone rang again and this time it was Pope Benedict XVI making Bishop Woelki the Archbishop of Berlin, which, given how much we've been going on about the Archdiocese of Cologne in this episode, might be a bit of a surprise but it can't have been completely out of the blue because Woelki was chosen by the Archdioceses' high metropolitan Cathedral Chapter, which, I admit, isn't something I'm super familiar with specifically but generally speaking Cathedral chapters have historically had a dominant influence in choosing who the bishop would be and that seems to be a custom that still has some staying power in some areas, particularly those with long traditions of doing things through Cathedral Chapters rather than in areas where things were set up air quotes “only” in in recent times–you know, in the last thousand years or so. So, you know, Europe. And in Eastern Catholic churches, whose traditions do not center Vatican appointments.   Anyways, yes, Berlin's Cathedral Chapter wanted Woelki,  and they got him, for a span.   In 2012, Archbishop Woelki became Cardinal Woelki, with Pope Benedict making him a Cardinal-Priest with the title of S. Giovanni Maria Vianney. At that point, he was the youngest member of the College of Cardinals, though by the end of the year that spot would be taken by Mar Cleemis, not to mention the also younger Cardinal Tagle.   Also in 2012, Cardinal Woelki was made a member of both the Congregation for Catholic Education and of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. The next year, like the other Benedict appointees we've mentioned, Cardinal Woelki participated in the March 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.   In 2014, Cardinal Woelki was named member of the Congregation for the Clergy, and after three years as Archbishop of Berlin, he was transferred to his old home of the Cologne Archdiocese as its new Archbishop. The next year, because you can't keep a good Roman Curia down, he was named member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, effectively helping manage the Vatican's pocketbooks and keep things running financially.   More recently, the Archdiocese of Cologne generally and Cardinal Woelki specifically have been focal points in some of the more recent chapters of the ongoing sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.    On the slight chance that some of my listeners are not aware of that topic in general, there have been thousands and thousands of cases of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in the last century. One Vatican official put the total number of abusers among priests at between 1.5 and 5 percent, noting that the number was generally in line with other organizations, which is certainly an argument that can be made, but given that Jesus literally told His followers to “be perfect” (Mt 5:48), I don't think it's unreasonable to hold the shepherds of the Church He founded to a higher standard than society at large, and yeah, society at large should also be doing better when it comes to not sexually abusing minors.   I've talked about this before, and I'll talk about it again, not only because it's important to talk about it so efforts to sweep it under the rug fail–and there are such efforts, to be sure– but also because my intention is to talk about everything and this uncomfortable topic is part of “everything”. Plus you'd kind of have to go out of your way to avoid talking about it when talking about Cardinal Woelki. Not because anyone is suggesting he's an abuser himself, but because in 2020 he picked up the stink of a common and decidedly difficult to shake reputation especially particular to higher level clergy: a reputation of seeking to bury such stories when possible.   Right or wrong, the main catalyst for that reputation was a series of comments made by the Independent Commissioner for Issues of Child Sexual Abuse, one Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig. Among other things, Rörig said, quote “There are many indications that Cardinal Woelki may have made a massive mistake with regard to the participation of those affected, transparency and independence from processing”, end quote.   In particular, Rörig accused Cardinal Woelki of promising transparency and then not following through with it, referring in particular to an independent report on the abuse situation within the Archdiocese that Cardinal Woelki had commissioned but which he had prevented from going public, citing unspecified methodological issues and violations of personal rights.   To his credit, Cardinal Woelki did follow up and commission another report, the results of which he did make public in March 2021 in the 800-page Gercke report, linked, like everything else, in the show notes. That certainly was not the end of the matter though, and in September 2021, after an apostolic visitation–basically a Vatican audit– and what the Holy See described as “a long conversation” with the Pope, Cardinal Woelki went on sabbatical for several months, leaving the Archdiocese in the hands of an Apostolic Administrator.    Upon his return to active service in March 2022, Cardinal Woelki submitted his resignation to Pope Francis, who has not yet acted on the offer, though a 2021 Vatican statement did acknowledge Woelki had made quote “major mistakes”, end quote, especially when it comes to communication, and described a quote “crisis of confidence in the archdiocese”, end quote.   In addition to continuing his service in what's now the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, Cardinal Woelki is also currently serving as a member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.   *Barring any changes to his status*, which is something I could always say but don't always say but am saying today *because reasons*, Rainer Maria Cardinal Woelki is eligible to participate in future conclaves until he turns 80 in 2036.   Today's episode is part of Cardinal Numbers,  and there will be more Cardinal Numbers  next week.. Thank you for listening; God bless you all! Thanks, Joe!

Full Text of ReadingsWednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 409The Saint of the day is Saint CajetanSaint Cajetan’s Story Like most of us, Cajetan seemed headed for an “ordinary” life—first as a lawyer, then as a priest engaged in the work of the Roman Curia. His life took a characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory of Divine Love in Rome, a group devoted to piety and charity, shortly after his ordination at 36. When he was 42 he founded a hospital for incurables at Venice. At Vicenza, he joined a “disreputable” religious community that consisted only of men of the lowest stations of life—and was roundly censured by his friends, who thought his action was a reflection on his family. He sought out the sick and poor of the town and served them. The greatest need of the time was the reformation of a Church that was “sick in head and members.” Cajetan and three friends decided that the best road to reformation lay in reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. Together they founded a congregation known as the Theatines—from Teate [Chieti] where their first superior-bishop had his see. One of the friends later became Pope Paul IV. They managed to escape to Venice after their house in Rome was wrecked when Emperor Charles V's troops sacked Rome in 1527. The Theatines were outstanding among the Catholic reform movements that took shape before the Protestant Reformation. Cajetan founded a monte de pieta—“mountain or fund of piety”—in Naples, one of many charitable, nonprofit credit organizations that lent money on the security of pawned objects. The purpose was to help the poor and protect them against usurers. Cajetan's little organization ultimately became the Bank of Naples, with great changes in policy. Reflection If Vatican II had been summarily stopped after its first session in 1962, many Catholics would have felt that a great blow had been dealt to the growth of the Church. Cajetan had the same feeling about the Council of Trent, held from 1545 to 1563. But as he said, God is the same in Naples as in Venice, with or without Trent or Vatican II. We open ourselves to God's power in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, and God's will is done. God's standards of success differ from ours. Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

Join me on “Vatican Insider” as we approach the final stretch of the shortest month of the year, even though 2024 is a leap year and we will have a February 29. This weekend also marks the return of the Pope and Roman Curia officials to work after a retreat that began Sunday afternoon. Papal and curia retreats have their own history and that is what I will look at in a Special I have prepared for what is normally the interview segment. I hope you enjoy that after the news segment and a Q&A on fasting and abstinence rule for Catholics during Lent.

Join me on “Vatican Insider” as we approach the final stretch of the shortest month of the year, even though 2024 is a leap year and we will have a February 29. This weekend also marks the return of the Pope and Roman Curia officials to work after a retreat that began Sunday afternoon. Papal and curia retreats have their own history and that is what I will look at in a Special I have prepared for what is normally the interview segment. I hope you enjoy that after the news segment and a Q&A on fasting and abstinence rule for Catholics during Lent.

This week, the Vatican is relatively quiet, as Pope Francis and the top Roman Curia officials make their Lenten retreat. As he has done since 2021, the pope has asked each official to make their retreat individually, centered on private prayer and spiritual exercises. Austen Ivereigh's latest book, First Belong to God: On Retreat with Pope Francis, helps all people of faith do just that. The author joins host Colleen Dulle this week to discuss his proposed retreat, as well as his experience covering Pope Francis both as a journalist and now—with his latest book—as a spiritual writer. He also shares his plans for his third biography of the present pope, focussed on the pope's trajectory since the Covid-19 pandemic. Find the full episode page and links for further reading here. Please support this podcast by becoming a digital subscriber to America Media. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, is facing increasingly strong opposition inside the Vatican. The conservative clan of the Roman Curia – the powerful governing body of the Holy See – accuses him of a laxist vision of Catholic doctrine, particularly regarding the status of homosexual couples and divorced people in the Church. Our Rome correspondent Natalia Mendoza reports from the Vatican's corridors of power on this growing conflict between tradition and modernity.

FORM THE HALL OF BENEDICTION, IN THE VATICAN, POPE FRANCIS'AUDIENCE WITH MEMBERS OF THE ROMAN CURIA FOR THE EXCHANGE OF CHRISTMAS GREETINGS (The content of this podcast is copyrighted by the Dicastery for Communication which, according to its statute, is entrusted to manage and protect the sound recordings of the Roman Pontiff, ensuring that their pastoral character and intellectual property's rights are protected when used by third parties. The content of this podcast is made available only for personal and private use and cannot be exploited for commercial purposes, without prior written authorization by the Dicastery for Communication. For further information, please contact the International Relation Office at relazioni.internazionali@spc.va)

NOTE: Though I mentioned timestamping, I've decided to forego that for now to allow me to go ahead and get this episode out without additional delay. I may well add it in retroactively at some point but for now you'll just have to survive with the free full transcript, below. https://columbuscatholic.org/chancery https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253959/cardinal-hollerich-there-s-space-to-expand-church-teaching-on-all-male-priesthood  Hello everyone, welcome back to Popeular History, a library of Catholic knowledge and insights and I'm going to be skipping the brought to you daily part because I've switched, at least for the time being, back to a model that basically can best be described as brought to you as I am able: something every month, probably. Which, I admit, doesn't roll off the tongue quite so well, but it's the right move. Anyways, it's good to be back talking with you again, I've been using the time away wisely, taking care of family and household stuff that needed my attention. Thank you for understanding. This is going to be something of a glossary of various roles within the Catholic Church that are gonna keep popping up, so consider this your cheat sheets to consult as needed. Oh and good news, I learned how to timestamp show notes, at least on some catchers, so see if it works for you. Let me know if it doesn't. See the show notes.  Without further ado, let's get into these church roles, starting with church roles you may recognize from the Bible but which are no longer a thing unless you're like a Mormon or something. First, APOSTLE. The most familiar use of this term is referring to one of the 12 Apostles, Jesus' closest followers: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, the other James, Judas (not *that* Judas), Simon, and Judas (yes *that* Judas). At least, that's the listing of the 12 as given in the book of Acts, my favorite reference point as this podcast talks about Church history and Church history actually happens in Acts, unlike the Gospels where it's pre-Pentecost so it's not really Church history yet, per se. And really, *that* Judas, Judas Iscariot, is replaced by Matthias for most purposes when you're talking about the apostles because since Judas betrayed Jesus he's a bit of an embarrassment to the group, which, fair enough. In the end, Apostle is the only one of these titles where I'm going to name the main holders individually in this episode, though of course through future episodes of the podcast I'll name all the Popes and Cardinals I have documentation of any kind for and we should also recognize that the term Apostle is used outside the Twelve as well at various points, including most prominently Saint Paul and even the almost certainly female Junia in his Letter to the Romans. The broader term for one of the earlier followers of Jesus is a DISCIPLE, and while this one does have some use in contemporary Catholicism, for example my parish has a slogan of "making disciples and disciple makers", the title of disciple as a specific identifier is something you're going to encounter in the Bible rather than in the day-to-day, where it's more of a general goal as a follower of Jesus. Meanwhile, an EVANGELIST is one who wrote one of the Gospels. Earlier I committed to the Apostles being the only one of these titles where I'd name all 12 of the main holders and I'm going to stick to that, but yeah, it's that simple. Note that this is actually more restrictive than being one of the writers of Scripture in general, for instance even though he wrote a good chunk of the New Testament, Saint Paul doesn't get described as an Evangelist. That isn't to say there isn't a bit of a tradition of using even this term someone analogously for anyone who spreads the message of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, for example the decidedly non-Catholic phenomenon of Televangelists get their name as a play on this word. Our last Bible-times Church role is that of PROPHET. Simply put, a prophet is someone inspired by the Holy Spirit to deliver a message, John the Baptist being the most famous New Testament example though especially if you look closely at the Book of Acts you can find other examples. There have been a number of folks who have made claims to be prophets in some form or another, generally the Church has frowned on such pronouncements. Officially, all new *public* revelation closed with the death of John the last Apostle around the year 100. However, the door to being a legitimate prophet is not completely closed, since *private* revelation is still possible, for example the various Marian apparitions like Lourdes and Fatima. What makes revelation considered "private" is not so much its actual privacy as its non-binding nature. All Catholics are obliged to accept public revelation, namely the Bible; no one is obliged to accept any private revelation like latter-day Prophets, though such individuals can gain the basic endorsement of the Church, which is what made Fatima, for example, so influential. That bit of a gray area bringing a Biblical role to the present is a good transition to the category of Church roles we'll talk about next, namely the basic roles in and structure of the Catholic Church today. As a periodic reminder, the default perspective and focus of this show is Catholic Christianity. I say that because there are plenty of Christian groups that follow models different than what I'll be describing here, though in broad terms what we'll be talking about is the dominant structure of Christianity and has been for centuries if not millennia. The fundamental concept to understand for this part–and really, to understand much of Catholicism–is APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. Apostolic succession is the notion that the Apostles were the first BISHOPS and picked folks to succeed them in their ministry as bishops. I'm not here to convince you that that's what happened, but since this show runs with Pope-colored glasses, it's what we're rolling with. In this framework, not just anyone can have authority in the Church, only those who have this apostolic succession. You can still get wrinkles, like MYSTICS that influence the bishops, but ultimately, whether a mystic has lasting influence is going to depend on whether any bishops- that is anyone who has apostolic succession- listens to her. And I say her because such mystics are typically female. And actually, I wasn't planning on covering mystics in this overview, but I guess I really should give them their own timestamp in the summary here since I've gone off on a tangent. I talked about them earlier in the context of modern day prophets. Basically, a mystic is someone who has some sort of special connection to revelation, whether God or the Blessed Virgin Mary or whoever. But anyways, back to bishops, because while stuff like mystics are fun, the majority of church admin is done in much more mundane fashion by the regular clergy like the Bishops. Catholic Bishops are always male, because in Catholicism ordination is what makes someone a bishop, and Catholic teaching holds that women cannot be ordained. Another particularity of ordination is that someone who is ordained can't get married, though put a pin in that because it's going to get more complicated when we talk about priests and especially deacons. Only bishops can carry out ordinations, and it involves physical touch so they cannot be done remotely. To minimize concerns about who has apostolic succession and who does not, for many years the standard has been that at least three bishops should participate in the ordination of a bishop, though this is not strictly speaking a requirement. With all of this apostolic succession and ordination business, the Catholic world is divided in two: the CLERGY, that is, those who are ordained, and the LAITY, that is, those who are not ordained. There's also sort of a third category but shush I'm keeping it simple and don't worry we'll get into that before we're done today. LAY, the shortened form of Laity, can also be used as an adjective in Church terminology, for instance in the phrase LAY EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS, or LAY CARDINALS, in both cases emphasizing that the individual being described is not as ordained as one might expect. Meanwhile, CLERG is not a word, pleaae don't try to make it a thing. Anyways, once ordained, bishops are typically assigned a specific geographic area called a DIOCESE. Their main base of operations will tend to be in what's called a CATHEDRAL that's generally in the most prominent city in that diocese, and the Diocese is generally named after the city, for instance my home diocese of Columbus is named after the city of Columbus in Ohio. In some ways bishops are equals, for instance all bishops can ordain successors. But in other ways they aren't, for instance Catholicism is somewhat famously centered around the Bishop of Rome, aka the POPE, who is prominent because the Diocese of Rome was where Saint Peter, the foremost disciple, settled down, never mind that by all accounts he also ran the Church in Antioch for a while. Collectively, all the Catholic Bishops in the world are called the COLLEGE OF BISHOPS, and according to the very handy and highly recommended Gcatholic.org there are well over 5000 such Catholic bishops alive today. Of course, there are also a good number of bishops who aren't Catholic, meaning they aren't in communion with the Pope, especially the Eastern Orthodox. And forgive me if I explain being in communion as like the Church version of being facebook friends. It's obviously more solemn than that, but basically yes, it's a mutual public acknowledgement that you're on good terms with someone else. Bishops who aren't in communion with Rome are still bishops- meaning they still have apostolic succession and can still create their own successors, which has lead to a fair amount of drama, historically. When I mentioned not all bishops are created equally, I wasn't just talking about the Pope. There are several different kinds of bishops to consider, so let's hit the highlights. In addition to a regular bishop who heads a diocese, there's a higher level bishop called an ARCHBISHOP who runs what's called an ARCHDIOCESE or you might see the term PROVINCE. Technically I believe a province is the combination of an Archdiocese and any regular diocese that are under its jurisdiction, which are called SUFFRAGAN diocese in that context while the Archdiocese is called the METROPOLITAN, which is also a shorthand way of referring to the archbishop in that arrangement, or you might more fully call him the METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOP. To return to my home diocese as an example, the Metropolitan for the Diocese of Columbus is the Archbishop of Cincinnati. Not every Archbishop is a Metropolitan Archbishop, because not every Archdiocese has a suffragan diocese. You can also find cases where a person is personally made an Archbishop but is not put in charge of an Archdiocese, those cases are called "PRO HAC VICE", which is basically Latin for "for this occasion”, meaning while the person is being made an archbishop their diocese is not being made an archdiocese. There are weirder scenarios that can pop up as well, but I'm trying to focus on the highlights to keep this manageable and will point out the more unusual stuff when and if it pops up. In terms of territory, the next step above a province would typically be a REGION, which is generally just an administrative subdivision of a national bishops' Conference. Columbus is in a region with all the dioceses–it's hard to pluralize that–in Ohio and Michigan, called Region VI. This particular layer of admin is completely unremarkable and has no special titles or roles associated with it. At the top of the national level there's generally what's called a BISHOP'S CONFERENCE, an organization made up of the bishops and perhaps their equivalents across a given nation. Depending on the scale of things you might also see bishop's conferences that cover multiple countries or I think I've even seen some sub-national bishops' conferences here and there, it just depends on what makes sense given the geopolitics and the nature of the Catholic Community. Though there isn't a special churchy title for the leadership of a Bishops' Conference- they're just called President or whatever- I will tend to note when someone I'm going over holds a leadership post here since it's at the national level. Getting back to church titles rather than standard admin structure, it's worth noting that, in a nutshell, the older a diocese is the more prestige and gravitas it has. Historically, the oldest diocese in a given country had special importance and was something a bit above a regular archdiocese called a PRIMATIAL SEE held by a PRIMATE- not the monkey though sure joke away– oh and see by the way is just another word for a diocese, that's S-E-E. It's specifically referring to the bishop's "seat", which is the same concept that makes the head church of a Diocese called a Cathedral, cathedra being a Latin word for Chair. And yeah, it's a bit weird to have so much focus on what someone is sitting on but keep in mind thrones for kings kind of fill the same concept, it's basically the idea that it's the office that has its own importance that accumulates with each officeholder. Some diocese are dignified at an even higher level and are called Patriarchates, with bishops of those diocese being called Patriarchs. Historically the core group of patriarchates was Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. Others have been added through the years, notably Moscow in the East. Generally Patriarchates are more associated with Eastern Orthodoxy since the highest ranking churchmen there are the Patriarchs, though the Popes would also flaunt their Papal powers over the church generally by setting up some new Western Patriarchates as well, like Lisbon and Venice. I'll definitely be spending a lot of time talking about all the various patriarchates in the main narrative, so stay tuned. Recently a new role has been developed, and of course I mean recently in church terms so, you know, in living memory, and that's the role of what's termed a "MAJOR ARCHBISHOP", just half a hair down from a Patriarch in dignity, and of course overseeing a "MAJOR ARCHBISHOPRIC". Check out my episode on Sviatoslav Shevchuk for more on that, basically the Vatican wanted to grant the Ukranians higher honor but could not fully commit to a new Patriarchate because of pressure from Moscow, so the position was developed as a compromise. There are now a total of four Major Archbishops, all Eastern Catholics. To explain very briefly, now that I'm mentioning Eastern Catholics, the Catholic Church is actually made up of a total of 24 sui iuris- that is, "self governing" Churches, called Particular churches. The one you're probably most familiar with is the biggest, what's called the Latin Church, but the other 23 are equally important at least in theory even though in practice they often get sidelined or overlooked. A single city may have multiple bishops because of these different rites, and also because of non-Catholic bishops, for example there are currently five people claiming the role of Patriarch of Antioch, three Catholic bishops from different sui iuris particular churches in union with Rome, and two Orthodox bishops not in union with Rome. None of these Patriarchs of Antioch are based in Antioch, modern Antakya. It's complicated. Collectively members of these non-Latin Sui Iuris churches are called Eastern Catholics and In most cases these are the results of various splits and reunions throughout Church history, resulting in a variety of local traditions maintained because 1 tradition is beautiful and 2 union with the Pope is more important to the Pope then making everyone do exactly the same thing, though there have certainly been pushes for that, and I hope that somewhat tongue-in-cheek brief overview isn't too insulting but long story short the variety resulting from these different traditions could easily double the length of this episode, but given the main purpose of this was to allow Cardinal-Watchers to follow Cardinal Numbers without getting too lost I'm going to let the Latin rite examples I've given form the core and I'll explain Eastern titles- such as calling most bishops EPARCHS and most Dioceses EPARCHIES- as they appear in individual episodes. Now, believe it or not, there's still a few more bishop-tier titles to go. First, a TITULAR BISHOP is a bishop who has been assigned a non-functional diocese, which sounds like a bit of a raw deal- and to be clear, it is- but it generally allows them to focus on other stuff they need to be doing while officially giving them the status and dignity of being a bishop. There are also titular archbishops and even titular patriarchs, basically the next few terms function as adjectives. Another modifier you might see before someone's bishop title is "Auxiliary". An AUXILIARY BISHOP is a bishop who assists in the administration of a see- typically an archdiocese or a patriarchate- while being titular bishop of another see. This keeps one person as the overall pastor but allows for easing the burden when there's a lot of bishopping to be done. There's another kind of bishop called a COADJUTOR. As the co- part might suggest, a coadjutor bishop acts alongside the regular bishop. Generally speaking a coadjutorship is a short term arrangement, designed to ease the transition when the regular bishop retires, with the coadjutor having automatic succession. Unlike Auxiliary bishops, coadjutor bishops are not typically given a separate titular see reflecting this even closer association with the diocese. Normally the goal is one bishop per diocese and one diocese per bishop, coadjustorships are treated as an exception to that ideal for the sake of smooth transition. Another adjective you'll see applied to someone's title as bishop is emeritus, and this one I think is more familiar to folks. A BISHOP EMERITUS is the former bishop of a diocese. In modern practice most Bishops are required to submit their resignation to the Pope once they turn 75, so that's the typical retirement age, but early retirements due to health reasons or air quotes "health reasons" are not unheard of, and sometimes folks are left in their posts for a bit longer. When a diocese has no serving bishop, that period is called a SEDE VACANTE, or "vacant seat". Most folks hear that in connection with the Pope, though the term can be used for all diocese, not just Rome. If the vacancy is a longer one, you'll often see what's called an APOSTOLIC ADMINISTRATOR appointed for the interim, someone to keep things running who may or may not already be a bishop of another diocese, often the metropolitan. Finally, there's a broader term that includes but is not limited to bishops that I've been studiously avoiding: an ORDINARY. Most often the ordinary is a bishop, but there are some special jurisdictions outside the normal diocesan structure that are served by a non-episcopal-AKA non-bishop- ordinary. Such jurisdictions are called ORDINARIATES. And yeah, don't let the wording fool you, ordinariates headed by an ordinary are not, you know, the ordinary arrangement, those are for special circumstances. The most common type of ordinariate is a MILITARY ORDINARIATE. Given the special needs of armed forces and the families serving in them, many nations have a specific ordinariate dedicated to military families. There is also something called a PERSONAL ORDINARIATE, which in modern times is best understood as a bridge between Anglicanism and Catholicism, something Anglican leaders aren't particularly thrilled about but that didn't stop Pope Benedict XVI from setting up the structure a few years back. This is also as good a time as any to note that a CHAPLIN is like the priest-level edition of an ordinary, in the sense that they're dedicated to a specific group of people that isn't a geographic thing, and also in the sense that it's often something you'll see in a military or other institutional context, and *also* in the sense that a chaplain might not actually be a priest even though they carry out many similar functions, much like an ordinary may not actually be a bishop. Alright, next up, let's start looking at what's going on within a typical diocese, especially at Mass, that most Catholic of ceremonies. As you might have guessed, we're going to be talking a fair bit about PRIESTS today, so let's dive in there. Priests, like bishops, receive Holy Orders through ordination. They effectively function as a stand-in for the bishop, serving as his delegates in the local churches called PARISHES. They have apostolic succession only in a secondary sense- their holy orders are valid because of their bishop's valid apostolic succession, and they cannot ordain successors themselves. Unless of course they also happen to be a bishop, which, yes, Mr Offscreen Pedant, bishops are also priests, but I'm speaking specifically about priests who are not also bishops. All bishops are priests and deacons to boot, holy orders is a three-part deal that stacks up like that. Of course, not all deacons are priests, and not all priests are bishops. It's a squares and rectangles kind of thing. The primary function of a priest is to administer sacraments, especially saying Mass and hearing confessions. I actually have my sacraments series done for the Solemn High Pod, so check out the three part Popeular History episode 0.20 if you want to know more about Mass and the sacraments. If 0.23 and dare I hope 0.31 are done by the time you're listening to this you can check out those as well for more on the Mass. Like Bishops, priests are generally expected to practice clerical celibacy, especially in the Latin church but also in the East in the sense that they cannot get married after ordination. So if they want to join the ranks of the married clergy, they better already have the married part done before they do the clergy part. A priest is the most essential person when it comes to Mass, because priests are the ones who either celebrate or say Mass–either of those verbs will work, by the way, and I'm not actually aware of a difference in meaning. Anyways, this is brought home by the fact that priests can literally say Mass by themselves, with no one else present. And I don't want to go too far into theology in this org chart overview, but I really should note that ultimately, on a theological level, it's not so much the priests themselves saying Mass or hearing confessions, rather it's Christ acting through them. What about deacons? Well, first off, there are two kinds of deacons in current practice: TRANSITIONAL DEACONS and PERMANENT DEACONS. The transitional deaconate is a step towards priesthood, and typically lasts a year. It's the first rung of Holy Orders, the first ordination the future priest will receive. In the case of permanent deacons, rather than a stepping stone the diaconate is its own vocation, with the recruiting focus being on men ages 35-55 or so depending on the diocese. Even in the west married permanent deacons are normal, though still with the same caveat that I mentioned for eastern priests earlier: once you're ordained no more new marriages for you. Deacons have an assisting role at Mass and administering other rites and sacraments but historically their main role has been more in the realm of what's called works of mercy, aka helping the poor, as that was the original idea behind setting up the diaconate as outlined in the biblical Book of Acts. It was only in recent times–recent times in the scale of Catholicism of course meaning in you know, living memory, it's a big timeline–anyways it was only in recent times that the permanent diaconate was revived after a millenium of suppression. Technically, to be sure, there were some deacons in the middle ages–Pope Gregory VII gained his reputation as Deacon Hildebrand- but outside of the Papal court, where titles tend to carry on regardless, DROPDROP they were scarcely more than a step to the priesthood, DROPDROP that transitional model I mentioned earlier. Before that decline, deacons were actually generally more impactful than priests, often serving as the bishop's right hand, especially in the form of ARCHDEACONS. This model is still largely present in the Eastern Churches, especially if you recall that Arkdiyakon role I mentioned in the context of the Thomas Christians I mentioned last month. Finally, I should note that there is strong historical evidence for a female diaconate in the early Church, for example in Romans 16 Saint Paul refers to a certain Phoebe as a deaconess, and unlike in the historical argument over female priests and bishops, the Church accepts a form of female diaconate as a historical reality. However, it is argued that women deacons were not ordained, that their role was fundamentally different from that of male deacons. Whether to revive an unordained form of female diaconate is an active topic of discussion in Rome. Of course, we're well into the weeds now. Things have changed. But before we make our way back to the modern Church, let's take a quick look at how Holy Orders worked prior to the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s. Before Vatican II, Holy Orders didn't start with the diaconate, the priesthood was actually the culmination of a seven-step process that began with what's called the minor orders. The lowest rung of this ladder was the PORTER, being basically the church doorman. After that, the LECTOR, in charge of some of the Bible reading at Mass, and a role which largely survived the council but was taken out of the context of a step on the path to priesthood, to the extent that even shock of shocks women can be Lectors. Next up was the ever crowd-pleasing role of EXORCIST, one trained to cast out demons, and perhaps surprisingly that's another role that's still with us, now taking the form of a special category of priests. As I understand it, to this day each Diocese has at least one exorcist, though their identities are typically kept secret because, ya know, kooks who won't stop bugging him because, I mean, real-life-exorcist. Cool. Finally, up at the top of the minor orders there was the role of ACOLYTE. Think alter server but one of the more active ones, not just a candle-holder. And yes, a role that was once higher than an exorcist is now generally occupied by a middle schooler. Right above the minor orders was the first rank that required ordination- no, not the deacon, the SUB-DEACON. Like all the other minor orders suppressed in the West, this role has been preserved in the East. Take this how you will, but the East has tended to more scrupulously preserve tradition than the Latin Church. It probably helps that they have no one with sufficient authority to come close to mucking around with tradition. I honestly don't think we'll be talking about sub-deacons much, but just know they're, well, right below a standard-issue deacon in the medieval pecking order, as you might have guessed, assisting at mass in similar but different roles. This office went away in the West with the abolition of the minor orders in Vatican II. After the sub-deacon the medieval and early modern seven stages of Holy Orders culminated with the familiar roles of Deacon- full on deacon this time- and then priest. Note that Bishop was not really considered a part of this progression in this model. Now, let's take a moment to chat through a couple other church roles largely or totally left to history while we're in the neighborhood. First, who can forget the fact that there's a whole Canterbury tale dedicated to the PARDONER. This wasn't someone who specialized in hearing confessions and absolving sins as you might expect after that episode we did on the newly elevated Cardinal Dri, the elderly Argintinian Capuchin with that focus. Instead, the focus of the Pardoner was on selling indulgences, those get-out-of-Purgatory-free cards that brought enough scandal to destroy the unity of western Christendom. And yes, I'm kind of acting like you already know about the Protestant Reformation in the same episode where I explain at a basic level what a priest is. Anyways, speaking of Protestants–or quasi-Protestants, or whatever you want to call them, perhaps just Anglicans– speaking of Anglicans, in many ways they're an even better time capsule for preserving some things lost to modern Catholicism than the East. Obviously not in all stripes of Anglicanism, as that wide tent contains a lot of innovations, but, well, on the traditionalist Anglo-Catholic end of the spectrum you can still find things like CANONS and PREBENDS. Canons with one N of course, the church kind, though of course the martial Pope Julius II was fond of two-N cannons as well. Anyways, even ruling out the military cannons I need to specify, as there are not one not two but three distinct meanings of a one-N canon in medieval Catholicism and actually in contemporary Catholicism as well, though the role of canon- by definition our focus on this episode on roles in the Catholic Church- the role is much less common than it once was. But first, the most common meaning of the term Canon in contemporary Catholicism is in the context of Canon law, because that's the term for way the Church governs itself and specific sections of the overall governing document are called canons. Similarly, church councils, that is, gatherings of church leaders, also tend to produce canons, especially the great ecumenical–that is, universal–councils of old that we'll start discussing when we get to the fourth century. So for example someone might cite the first canon of the Council of Nicea, where the Church of old ruled on the pressing question of how being castrated would or would not impact one's ability to serve as a priest. There's also something called the Canon of the Mass, and really the root word helps to understand the meaning of both this and the law slash council thing, because a canon in Latin is something like a fixed measuring stick. The fixed part of Mass is the section of prayers that are always the same, or at least that were always the same until our old friend Vatican II made other options available (again, as I understand it). Nowadays the Canon of the Mass, also called the Roman Canon, is additionally referred to as Eucharistic Prayer 1, implying the existence of Eucharistic Prayer 2, which isn't just a theoretical thing but a real life shorter form that liturgical traditionalists like myself tend to hate. There's also Eucharistic Prayers 3 and 4, which are less egregious, but still, stick with Eucharistic Prayer 1, aka the Roman Canon, if you would be so kind. The third kind of Canon is, at last, the role, and interestingly the etymology here is the same root as the others, giving the sense of something standardized or fixed in place. In this case, the standardization is because the "Canons" of a cathedral or other significant church were a group of priests who had decided to live communally and establish their spiritual and physical lives around a set of rules, you know, standardizing them. Canonizing their lives, if you will. They were basically members of a religious order, though not one centrally governed. Oh, and I suppose I should also note that the term canonization fits into this overall picture in a similar way: it's called canonization because what canonization does is standardize the cult of a particular saint across the universal church. Oh and stop saying cult like it's a bad thing, in this case that's just the word used. It's not a wink and a nod to kool-aid. Also, a canon in the sense of a cathedral canon or other role in a religious order is different from a canon*ist* or a canon lawyer, which is one who studies and explains or practices Church law, respectively. Clear as mud? Fair. Oh, and the PREBEND I mentioned, well, that's basically just a fancier kind of Cathedral canon. Let's move on though. The last historical Church role I want to talk about today is the KING. Or the EMPEROR. Or, you know, whoever the relevant feudal LORD would be. Because such secular leaders were nevertheless seen as having a critical role within the Church, with the civil government and the Church not then tending to have the separation we're used to these days. Really, nobility in general was a big deal for the church until the last century or so. Ok, so we've talked about the various forms of bishops and their territories, and about who you might see at Mass. What about those between? Well, one of the most important functions in Church organization is training up the next generation of leadership, and that training of new priests tends to take place at special institutes called SEMINARIES. You can basically think of seminaries as universities for future priests, and there's also a junior league of sorts for younger students that's basically a kind of boarding school called a MINOR SEMINARY. Those who study at seminaries are called SEMINARIANS, and those who teach there are nowadays generally titled PROFESSORS having the same basic sense as in the secular world but with Catholicism baked in. Kind of like this show verses a generic non-Popeular podcast. The head of a seminary is generally called a RECTOR, though I'm sure there's some variety in that. As you may know depending on what's common in your neck of the woods, rector can also have the same basic sense in secular institutes of higher learning as well, which makes sense when you take a look at the root word there: basically, "ruler". Etymology is our friend here, there, and everywhere. Outside of seminary education, there's also the topic of the general administrative structure of a given diocese. Obviously the bishop is on top, and as you probably already guessed the priests of the diocese typically have admin roles in addition to saying Mass. As an American Catholic, I'm mostly used to hearing the term PASTOR for a priest who's tasked with running a local church community called a PARISH, though I gather canonically the Anglican sounding term VICAR is more precise. You'll also hear the term PARISH PRIEST used in the same sense. A single parish may have more than one priest assigned to it by the diocesan powers that be. A secondary priest is called a PAROCHIAL VICAR in more  official stuff but ASSOCIATE PASTOR is the term you'll hear in common parlance, at least in American use. You might also see someone described as a CURATE, which in modern use designates a priest who assists the principal Vicar or Pastor or Rector of whatever, but historically would refer to the pastor themselves, and yes, it's complicated. There are higher levels to consider as well, both administratively and in terms of honorary titles. For example, MONSIGNOR is a special honorary title given to seasoned priests at the discretion of the Pope. It's not really a role, since it's purely a title and has no special function, but I figured I'd include it here. There are three levels within being titled a Monsignor, first a "CHAPLAIN OF HIS HOLINESS", second an "HONORARY PRELATE", and finally a "PROTONOTARY APOSTOLIC". These sorts of honorifics are currently out of favor in Rome given Pope Francis' strong preference for simple aesthetics and not seeking honor and titles, but he's pushing against a very long tradition of honors and titles in Roman culture, long enough that it goes back to the Cursus Honorum of ancient Pagan Rome, and I expect with the back-and-forth way the Papacy and the Curia operate, we haven't seen the last of ecclesiastical honorifics. After a fat Pope, the saying goes, a skinny Pope. Oh, there's even a kind of honorific for church buildings that functions in kind of the same way as making a priest a Monsignor, namely the status of BASILICA, which is basically just a way for the powers that be to say "hey check out this church it's extra nifty". Of course, not all higher titles within a Diocese are honorifics, there are functional roles as well. The overall day-to-day admin of the diocese is typically not run by the Bishop personally but by an office called the CHANCERY run by a CHANCELLOR, another term you may have heard in higher education because there's historical overlap between higher education and the admin of the Catholic Church or, you know, medieval courts in general. VICE-CHANCELLORS are also a thing, being second in command, behind the Chancellor. If you want a little more insight into what a Diocesan Chancery does, my home Diocese of Columbus has a write-up on their website that explains it better than I would so allow me to just quote them: "The Chancery includes those offices and persons who directly assist the Bishop in the pastoral and administrative governance of the Diocese of Columbus. The Chancery, on behalf of the Bishop, expedites canonical matters; collects and preserves diocesan and parish records; assists parishes and priests with civil matters; maintains files on priests and parishes; collects statistical information for the Diocese; facilitates communications with other dioceses and the Vatican; provides information on the Church or directs inquirers to appropriate sources; facilitates pre-Marriage dispensations and permissions and transmits to other dioceses pre-marriage files; and oversees diocesan offices." The rough Papal equivalent to the diocesan Chancery is the Roman CURIA. In Rome, the Church bureaucracy is sprawling. It's no secret that bureaucracies tend to grow over time when left unchecked, and historically Rome was just about the last place to look for a check on a bureaucracy. Even the ancient pre-Christian Romans exalted bureaucracy, with their skills as administrators being credited as a major unifying force for the Empire. Of course, administrative skills and bureaucracy can almost be contradictory concepts– after all, getting things done requires moving beyond committee after committee. But ultimately the purpose of the Curia is to spread the faith handed down from the Apostles throughout the world, and with that emphasis on handing down, tradition is a huge part of things. When you combine an emphasis on tradition with a massive scale- there are well over a billion Catholics in the world today- and a global scope–well, the Curia is absolutely massive and, despite repeated efforts at overhauling things, it's complicated as well. It would be deeply ironic but not inaccurate to call it Byzantine, a term for “really really complicated” drawn from another institution derived from ancient Rome, though the Byzantine empire is no more and the papacy is more globalized than ever. Pope Francis has been toying with the formula more than any other Pope in recent history, time will tell if the changes stick. One of the most apparent changes Pope Francis has made to the Curia, certainly in the context of our rundown of specific terms, is rebranding the various PONTIFICAL COUNCILS and CONGREGATIONS to DICASTERIES. The practical effect of this is minor but it's helpful to recognize these terms as referring to high level Curial departments–often but not always headed by Cardinals, indeed Pope Francis has structured things so there is no longer any official bar to Dicasteries headed by, say, a woman, though that hasn't actually happened yet. In any event, the heads of Dicasteries or Congregations or Pontifical Councils or whatever you want to call them are called PREFECTS, with the second in command being listed as SECRETARIES, and then things like UNDERSECRETARIES appearing further down the chain of command but still fairly high on the overall curial org chart. The CARDINALS I mentioned there are a special role connected to the Diocese of Rome. As a group they are called the COLLEGE OF CARDINALS, in much the same way that the bishops throughout the world collectively make up the COLLEGE OF BISHOPS. Most famously, it is the eligible Cardinals under the age of 80 who pick the next pope in a closed voting contest called a CONCLAVE during a Papal Sede Vacante, in a period of “vacant see”, you know, “empty chair”. Meetings of Cardinals more broadly speaking are called CONSISTORIES, because yeah, pretty much everything has a special term here, that's why you're listening to this episode. The office of Cardinal has historical connections to the clergy of Rome but it is not by definition an ordained role, meaning there could conceivably be women as Cardinals in the future as I discussed in my September 28th episode this year. There are three fundamental orders of Cardinals, the names of which are rooted in the origins of the college but which are no longer tied to their respective levels of Holy Orders in any particular way as all modern Cardinals are at least priests and most are bishops. Nevertheless, Cardinals are Categorized as either CARDINAL-BISHOPS, the highest level, or CARDINAL-PRIESTS, in the middle, or CARDINAL DEACONS, the lowest category, though really if you're a Cardinal even at the lowest level you're still pretty high up in the Church's pecking order. Special roles within the College of Cardinals include the PROTOPRIEST and the PROTODEACON, the longest serving of those respective orders. Historically, it was the Protodeacon's job to crown the Pope, though Popes haven't opted for crowns in decades. It's also the job of the most senior cardinal deacon participating in the Conclave to announce the new Pope through what's called the HABEMUS PAPAM, Latin for "we have a Pope". A specific name for a specific speech. Speaking of Conclaves and Papal Sede Vacantes and such, the CAMERLENGO OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH is the one who runs the show when there's no Pope around, assisted, of course, by a VICE CAMERLENGO. And to give you an idea of *just* *how* *wonky* the Curia can be, though the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church is generally a Cardinal, he should not be confused with the CAMERLENGO OF THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS, a role dedicated to administering the financial affairs of the Cardinals which has, mercifully, recently been allowed to lapse. So, yeah. There are a huge number of special roles and titles connected to the Curia. We'll be seeing them in action repeatedly as we go, but I don't want to get too hung up on them in this overview. Needless to say, Rome is a special case, full of special cases. Before we go, I do want to point out the NUNCIOS are effectively Papal Ambassadors, and the offices they head are called NUNCIATURES. A small step down the latter of diplomatic precedence there are PRO-NUNCIOS who have PRO-NUNCIATURES and who perhaps aspire to be full-on Nuncios one day–yes, oddly, in this case the "pro" prefix actually signifies as a *lower* rank. Finally, it would be just plain wrong of me to skip the fact that there is an important role called the LIBRARIAN OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, and which was historically also known as the BIBLIOTHECARIUS. Don't worry, we'll be following them especially closely. Anyways, any more standard diocese, including Columbus, may not have something as deep and extensive as the Curia, but they still have their own complexities not only within but also beyond the walls of the Chancery, often being subdivided into units called DEANERIES, which are groups of parishes. These multi-parish groups are headed, as you might have guessed, by someone called a DEAN, though you might have also guessed that a more official and less intuitive name exists in canon law: a deanery can also be listed as a FORANE VICARIATE, headed by a VICAR FORANE. There are other roles that aren't geographically based but are still critical to the functioning of the diocese, such as NOTARIES, who are permitted to draw up official documents on behalf of the local Church, and CONSULTORS, who, well, are there for the bishop to consult with on specific topics where he may need their advice. Ok, we're getting there. Now, you might think you know what RELIGIOUS means, but in a Catholic context it has a narrower definition. Being *a* religious means you have taken RELIGIOUS VOWS, specifically THE EVANGELICAL COUNSELS of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience. Obedience, in this case, meaning obedience to a religious superior. Welcome to the world of RELIGIOUS ORDERS, which you might also know variously as RELIGIOUS INSTITUTES, INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE, SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE, or even CONGREGATIONS, depending on a variety of factors and generally distinguished at a deeper level than I want to get into today. A fair amount of the variety comes from the various religious orders having their own distinct rules, called, well, RULES, and particular focuses, called CHARISMS. They also traditionally have distinct uniforms, called HABITS. You can typically recognize members of different religious orders by their habits, for example white and black robes will most often be a Dominican, brown or sometimes gray will trend to signify a Franciscan of some sort, though there are a lot more religious orders than there are basic colors so brown is also the dominant color in the unrelated Carmelite order. Anyways, the most classic form of a religious order is a MONASTERY with the members of the order being known as MONKS in the case of males or NUNS in the case of females– and monasteries have always been segregated by gender though there were historically sometimes what was called DOUBLE MONASTERIES with male and female wings. Given everyone involved had taken a vow of chastity, such a separation was seen as a practical step. Now, you might be surprised to hear me mentioning nuns in the context of a monastery, rather a CONVENT, a similar institution, which in contemporary English is where you'd expect to find nuns, with monasteries being reserved for monks. But I want to give you some historical understanding as well, and historically the distinction between a convent and a monastery was not one of gender but of specific type. Monasteries tended to be more rural and therefore removed from worldly concerns but could be communities of either gender, while convents tended to be more urban and therefore a bit more integrated into secular society. But that historical sense has faded sufficiently in English that you'll get weird looks if you say there are nuns in a monastery or monks in a convent. You may be technically correct, which is indeed the best kind of correct, but just be aware that the non-gendered sense of the terms is now not as common as it once was. Either way, members of religious communities are generally called BROTHER or SISTER as the default form of address unless another title supersedes. The head of a monastery is typically called an ABBOT in the case of a male CONGREGATION or an ABBESS in the case of a female congregation- the congregation being the community itself. Second in command in the case of a larger community or perhaps in overall command of a smaller community that is itself subordinated to a mother house is a PRIOR or PRIORESS, the former for a male community and the latter for a female community. In terms of the overall building, if the person in charge is an Abbott or Abbess then it's an ABBEY, if it's run by a Prior or a Prioress it's called a PRIORY, though it's not unusual for folks to simply fall back on the simplified and gendered newer meanings of monastery and convent I described earlier. A generic term for those in charge of a religious community is a SUPERIOR, or perhaps MOTHER SUPERIOR, with the leadership of the overall global order being typically called a SUPERIOR GENERAL. There's also a middle range of governance called a PROVINCE, giving that word a similar meaning to what we saw on the Diocesan side of things. All of these communities vary in a number of ways. Some are more removed from worldly affairs, with few to no outside visiters, those communities are called CLOISTERED. These communities go back to the origins of Christian monasticism, where an individual would often feel inspired to withdraw from the world and live a life of severe ASCETICISM, that is, renouncing pleasure and embracing prayer and PENANCE-reparations for sins-  in the hope of spiritual rewards. In the common narrative, folks would come out to such HERMITS, who might be called DESERT FATHERS or DESERT MOTHERS, and seek to follow their example, forming a community. The term for the individual ascetic who vows to follow the evangelical counsels is a hermit like I mentioned or you might also call them an ANCHORITE, and that form of monasticism is EREMITIC, from same root word as "hermit". Once you're talking about living in community, that particular form of monasticism is called CENOBITIC monasticism, combining the greek words for "common" and "life". Not all monasticism is that degree of renunciation of the world, though certainly that form was most established in the early Church. But over time other orders with various special charisms- special focuses- emerged, with the rise of the MENDICANT orders- those that essentially live by begging- occurring in the 13th century, with the Franciscans and the Dominicans being classic examples. Male mendicants are called FRIARS. In time there would also be MISSIONARY orders such as the Jesuits or the Salesians, as you might guess those being dedicated to spreading Christianity to areas where Christianity was a minority. Members of missionary orders are simply called brothers or sisters, leaving the monk and nun labels to those living in more traditional communities. In a number of cases the communally living religious orders have established affiliated entities designed to allow those who live outside their actual communal life to nevertheless observe some form of their rule and wear some form of their habit. These are called THIRD ORDERS, the first and second orders being by implication the monks and the nuns in their communities. Members of third orders are also called TERTIARIES. Historically similar to third orders were things like BEGUINES and their male equivalents, BEGHARDS, though those were as much defined by their lack of official status in the Church as anything else, which makes them an awkward addition to this episode. So I'll leave it at that. Anyways, with the permission of their superior- keep in mind obedience is one of the monastic vows–the others being poverty and chastity if you need a refresher–anyway with the permission of their superior male religious are able to receive ordination and become clergy. Religious who become priests are called RELIGIOUS PRIESTS, which is fair enough as a title but does have an amusing effect in that priests who are not members of a religious order are called SECULAR PRIESTS, a term that made me laugh when I first saw it and which still makes me chuckle from time to time. They can also be called DIOCESAN PRIESTS, but what's the fun in that? Believe it or not, this overview has left a lot out. Like, I never told you about how CATHOLICOS was originally a title for a bishop whose territory was more devoted to a region than a specific city, but that it evolved to be the highest title in the Church of the East. But that's in part because while I intend to cover all 23 SUI IURIS–that is, self governing– churches that make up the overall Catholic church, nevertheless the ROMAN or LATIN CHURCH is the dominant stream of Catholic history, making up over 98% of Catholics today. In case I haven't made it clear enough yet, let me emphasize again that this stuff does get complicated and you don't need to feel bad about not knowing it all offhand. I've thought about this stuff for hours daily and I don't meet that bar, this episode required research like every other. But I hope this guide helps bring some clarity and can serve as a useful reference as you go. If I didn't explain it here, and possibly even if I did, I promise I'll explain it when it comes up as we go. Thank you for listening, God bless you all!

Full Text of ReadingsMonday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 407The Saint of the day is Saint CajetanSaint Cajetan’s Story Like most of us, Cajetan seemed headed for an “ordinary” life—first as a lawyer, then as a priest engaged in the work of the Roman Curia. His life took a characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory of Divine Love in Rome, a group devoted to piety and charity, shortly after his ordination at 36. When he was 42 he founded a hospital for incurables at Venice. At Vicenza, he joined a “disreputable” religious community that consisted only of men of the lowest stations of life—and was roundly censured by his friends, who thought his action was a reflection on his family. He sought out the sick and poor of the town and served them. The greatest need of the time was the reformation of a Church that was “sick in head and members.” Cajetan and three friends decided that the best road to reformation lay in reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. Together they founded a congregation known as the Theatines—from Teate [Chieti] where their first superior-bishop had his see. One of the friends later became Pope Paul IV. They managed to escape to Venice after their house in Rome was wrecked when Emperor Charles V's troops sacked Rome in 1527. The Theatines were outstanding among the Catholic reform movements that took shape before the Protestant Reformation. Cajetan founded a monte de pieta—“mountain or fund of piety”—in Naples, one of many charitable, nonprofit credit organizations that lent money on the security of pawned objects. The purpose was to help the poor and protect them against usurers. Cajetan's little organization ultimately became the Bank of Naples, with great changes in policy. Reflection If Vatican II had been summarily stopped after its first session in 1962, many Catholics would have felt that a great blow had been dealt to the growth of the Church. Cajetan had the same feeling about the Council of Trent, held from 1545 to 1563. But as he said, God is the same in Naples as in Venice, with or without Trent or Vatican II. We open ourselves to God's power in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, and God's will is done. God's standards of success differ from ours. Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

May 14: Saint Matthias, Apostle First Century Feast; Liturgical Color: Red Patron Saint of alcoholics and tailors The Twelve were deeply biblical—Judas had to be replaced Conservative Muslims believe that any territory that was once settled and governed by the adherents of Mohammed pertains forever and always to the Caliphate. Once Islamic, always Islamic. To illustrate, it took many generations for the Islamic fist to finally loosen its grip on Spain. Yet despite the Muslim armies being pushed back into the waters of the Mediterranean in 1492, some strict modern followers of Mohammed still harbor dreams of former glories and hope that Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) will one day re-emerge. Catholicism harbors no such illusions of glory for formerly Catholic lands, but it does practice a theological form of “Once Catholic, Always Catholic.” Many Bishops who serve in the Roman Curia exercise no authority over a diocese. Auxiliary bishops likewise lack a territory. These two categories of bishops are thus given a “titular” episcopal see. It is a see in name, or title, only. The see is normally that of an ancient diocese whose existence ceased due to, typically, Muslim invasion. The custom of assigning “titular” sees to some bishops not only preserves the memory of lost peoples and dioceses, it also has some theological support. A bishop and his diocese are united, like spouses, in a marriage arranged in Rome. That's why a bishop wears a ring. And a diocese, once created, cannot remain a widow. A new bishop is always appointed to be wedded to it. A diocese must have a spouse, even if he is a long way from home in distance and time. Titular bishops succeed in the present, if only in name, the past bishops of now defunct dioceses. The tradition that all bishops, beginning with the Apostles, must have successors is rooted not just in the early Church but in Judaism. The Twelve Apostles are more often referred to in the New Testament by their number than their names. They are, simply,  “The Twelve.” This custom is rooted in the twelve tribes who settled the land of Canaan after the Exodus from Egypt. These tribes were founded by the twelve sons of the Patriarch Jacob, later renamed Israel. It was inside of this Old Testament Jewish tradition that Jesus Christ acted when He chose twelve men upon whom to found His Church. Jesus specifically states that His followers will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Mt 19:28, Lk 22:30). And the Book of Revelation states that the names of the twelve tribes of Israel will be written on the gates of the Heavenly Jerusalem (Rv 21:12 ff). It was fitting, then, when “The Twelve” were reduced to “The Eleven” after Judas' self murder, that the fullness of the biblical number had to be restored. And this is where today's saint steps out from the shadows to play his role in Christian history. The first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, the great history book of the early Church, tells us that, after the Ascension, the eleven Apostles returned to Jerusalem. There, Peter “stood up among the believers” to tell them that someone who had “accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us… must become a witness with us to his resurrection.” Two names were proposed to replace Judas: Matthias and Joseph called Barsabbas. Then the Eleven prayed to the Lord to show them the way. They cast lots. Matthias was chosen. An Apostle, for the first time, had a successor. And, of equal significance, the appointment came from the group, or college, of Apostles, led by Peter. Thus was established, just days after Christ left the earth, a form of Church preservation and growth which would be repeated, and is still repeated, tens of thousand of times in Christian history. The Church has placed the Feast of St. Matthias purposefully close to the Feast of the Ascension, just as his election in Acts occurred so soon after that event in the Bible. The Holy Spirit had yet to descend at Pentecost, and still the Church performed the will of God with authority in selecting Matthias. It was all there in the beginning. It is still here all around us. The miracle of the Church and her Apostles continues. It will always continue. Saint Matthias, we beg your intercession from your powerful throne in the Heavenly Jerusalem, that you fortify all who govern your Church to emulate “The Twelve” in their wisdom, trust, prudence, and daring in leading and spreading the Faith.

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - Pro-life Americans from across the country attending the March for Life — which calls itself the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world — today, January 20, in Washington, DC. This is the first March for Life held in a post-Roe v Wade America. Catholic pro-life leaders agree that this year's demonstration is more important than ever, to provide a prayerful witness to the sanctity of life in the face of a push for abortion legalization at the federal level and in many states. Stay tuned to Catholic News Agency dot com for the latest updates today from the March for Life. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253393/live-updates-the-march-for-life-2023 Like the two years' prior, Pope Francis and the Roman Curia will again do the Vatican's annual Lenten retreat on an individual basis. The Vatican said Friday that Pope Francis had invited cardinals living in Rome and the heads of dicasteries to participate in the spiritual exercises “in a personal way” during the first full week of Lent, February 26 to March 3. During that week, all of Pope Francis' appointments will be canceled, including the Wednesday general audience of March 1, the Vatican announced. The pope asked the superiors of the Roman Curia to suspend their work activities and to use the five days for prayer. This is the third year the Lenten spiritual exercises, formerly organized as a group retreat, will take place in a private manner. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253405/pope-francis-to-do-private-lenten-retreat-in-2023 The bishops of the Church of England plan to maintain a prohibition on same-sex marriage but intend to add certain prayers that would allow same-sex couples to have a ceremony to recognize stages within a same-sex relationship. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253401/church-of-england-won-t-recognize-gay-marriage-but-will-allow-certain-ceremonies The Supreme Court announced Thursday that it has failed to find the person responsible for the leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v Wade. A joint statement released by the Supreme Court and marshal of the court today said the investigation has not been able to positively identify the culprit, despite concluding that it is “unlikely” the court was hacked and narrowing the search to less than 100 employees. An unprecedented Supreme Court leak to Politico in May 2022 exposed an unpublished draft opinion in which five justices voted to overturn Roe v Wade, ending the constitutional right to abortion. Immediate backlash ensued after news of the leak broke in which Supreme Court Justices' lives were threatened and protests were held for days outside their homes. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253400/breaking-supreme-court-failed-to-find-source-of-leaked-opinion-overturning-roe-v-wade Today, the Church celebrates Saint Sebastian, the son of a wealthy Roman family. He was educated in Milan and became an officer of the imperial Roman army, and Captain of the Guard. He was a favorite of Emperor Diocletian. During Diocletian's persecution of the Christians, Sebastian visited them in prison, bringing both supplies and comfort. He is reported to have healed the wife of a fellow soldier by making the sign of the cross over her. During his time in the army he converted many soldiers and a governor. Charged as a Christian in 288 in Rome, Sebastian was tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and left for dead. However, he survived, recovered, and returned to preach to Diocletian, where the emperor then had him beaten to death. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-sebastian-122

Today's Topics: 1) When Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross did only His human nature suffer or did His divine nature suffer? 2) Pope Francis warns of "elegant demons" lurking among Vatican staff. Pope Francis has turned Christmas address to Roman Curia into annual airing of grievances and stern warnings https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-francis-warns-of-elegant-demon-lurking-among-vatican-staff 3) What Is "manifesting," and does it work? http://jimmyakin.com/2022/06/what-is-manifesting-and-does-it-work.html 4) Pornography's effects on marriage and hope for married couples https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/pornography/pornographys-effects-on-marriage-and-hope-for-married-couples

Today's Topics: 1) When Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross did only His human nature suffer or did His divine nature suffer? 2) Pope Francis warns of "elegant demons" lurking among Vatican staff. Pope Francis has turned Christmas address to Roman Curia into annual airing of grievances and stern warnings https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-francis-warns-of-elegant-demon-lurking-among-vatican-staff 3) What Is "manifesting," and does it work? http://jimmyakin.com/2022/06/what-is-manifesting-and-does-it-work.html 4) Pornography's effects on marriage and hope for married couples https://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/pornography/pornographys-effects-on-marriage-and-hope-for-married-couples

Recently, Pope Francis used his Christmas speech to warn of an 'elegant demon' lurking in the shadows of the Church, one that 'does not make a loud entrance' but instead arrives with 'flowers in his hand'. Taken figuratively he is speaking of Roman Curia and the need of officials to be cautious of temptation. Taken literally there are plenty of actual demons which may fit the criteria of ‘elegant', such as Asmodeus, Lucifer, and Volac. For as 2 Corinthians warns, for "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." Thus, devil in all his forms appears as a savior and helper but also as a false prophet and anti-christ. This should make us all wonder about the things we keep close to us, the things we bring into our homes, and our definitions of monsters, or good and evil. Apparently, nothing is safe anymore from demonic influence. Santa Clause has been turned into a villain and online stories even talk about the seemingly harmless Elf on the Shelf being possessed by a spirit. We can't seem to escape this evil. It comes to us in holiday decorations, movies, tv, video games, comics, and children's toys. Even in sports, Aaron Rodgers, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. says he is still haunted in 2022 by the Hat Man who appears to him holding dead rabbits. Interestingly, the rabbit seeks only pleasure and avoids conflict, the very essence of the 2022 word of the year, goblin mode. The new year 2023 is also the year of the rabbit.

In a surprise statement at the end of his public audience on Dec. 28, Pope Francis appealed for “a special prayer” for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI because, he said, “he is very sick.” Just after the audience, Francis went to visit Benedict at his residence in the Vatican. On “Inside the Vatican” this week, veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O'Connell and host Colleen Dulle give an update on the former pope's health. According to a Vatican spokesman, by the time of the podcast's release, his condition had stabilized somewhat overnight but remained serious. The rest of the podcast looks at three of Pope Francis' Christmas messages: His homily for Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, his Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi message, and his pre-Christmas address to the Roman Curia. Gerry first gives an inside look at Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Square where, he said, the crowds had nearly returned to their pre-Covid size. Colleen and Gerry unpack the pope's homily, which focused on the image of Jesus' manger and urged those present, including foreign dignitaries, to do “something good” this Christmas. On Christmas Day, the pope used his Urbi et Orbi address to draw attention to places of suffering in the world through the eyes of children. “May the Lord inspire us to offer concrete gestures of solidarity to assist all those who are suffering,” he said. “Tragically, we prefer to heed other counsels, dictated by worldly ways of thinking. Yet who is listening to the voice of the Child?” Finally, in his annual address to the Roman Curia, Pope Francis continued the theme of his addresses in past years, using insights from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola to call those who work in the Vatican's central offices to conversion. Links from the show: Pope Francis asks for special prayer for ‘very ill' Benedict XVI Vatican update: Benedict XVI is ‘lucid and alert,' but condition remains serious Pope Francis: Rediscover the meaning of Christmas in the manger Listen to the cries of the newborn Prince of Peace, pope says on Christmas Pope Francis compares Roman Curia to the Prodigal Son's ‘elder brother' in annual address Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

o Our stories today include: (1) the case of Fr. Frank Pavone and his alleged laicization (dismissal from the clerical state); (2) President Trump's celebration of the pro-LGBT "Respect for Marriage Act" and Archbishop Vigano's response; (3) several recent examples of LGBT ideology affecting both Church and State; and (4) reports that Pope Francis may appoint a young, heterodox German bishop to lead the now-Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (plus his Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia).

FROM THE HALL OF BENEDICTIONS, IN THE VATICAN, POPE FRANCIS' AUDIENCE WITH MEMBERS OF THE ROMAN CURIA FOR THE EXCHANGE OF CHRISTMAS GREETINGS (The content of this podcast is copyrighted by the Dicastery for Communication which, according to its statute, is entrusted to manage and protect the sound recordings of the Roman Pontiff, ensuring that their pastoral character and intellectual property's rights are protected when used by third parties. The content of this podcast is made available only for personal and private use and cannot be exploited for commercial purposes, without prior written authorization by the Dicastery for Communication. For further information, please contact the International Relation Office at relazioni.internazionali@spc.va)

Monsignor Ruscitto gives this sermon based on the Book "My Catholic Faith" written by the Most Reverend Louis LaRavoire Morrow, S.T.D. Bishop of Krishnagar. Chapter 58: The Roman Curia: The Papal Elections "Anyone deeply interested in converts seeks an exposition of the Catholic Faith which not only defines each article of the Creed and each doctrine of the Church, but which also gives an explanation and a reason for the doctrine," writes Fulton J. Sheen in the Foreword to this classic of religious instruction. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/william-j-avila/support

“Inside the Vatican” is back from summer break this week, just as the Vatican wraps up an unusually jam-packed late August. On August 27, Pope Francis created 20 new cardinals, 16 of whom will help choose his successor. On the podcast, host Colleen Dulle and veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O'Connell recap the appointments and what makes the solemn ceremony relatively simple by Vatican standards. Most of the world's cardinals came to Rome for the creation of the new cardinals, and stayed for meetings with the pope on Monday and Tuesday to discuss his reform of the Roman Curia that went into effect in June. Although no reporters were allowed inside the meeting, Gerry shares what he learned from several participants about what happened. In between these two important events, Pope Francis flew by helicopter to the central Italian city of L'Aquila, which has not fully recovered from an earthquake that killed nearly 300 people in 2016. The pope met with the families of those who had died, before visiting the tomb of Celestine V, the first pope to voluntarily resign. The visit to Celestine's tomb, combined with the unusual meeting with the cardinals, had led some to assume Pope Francis could resign this week. Gerry explains that, while he doesn't believe Francis intends to follow in Celestine's footsteps and resign yet, Francis has become the first pope in more than 700 years to follow Celestine's lead in opening the Holy Door of the L'Aquila basilica for a special feast of forgiveness known as the “Celestinian pardon.” Read more: Podcast: Is Pope Francis preparing for the next conclave? Meet the 16 New Cardinal Electors Pope Francis creates 20 new cardinals including Robert McElroy of San Diego Pope Francis prays at tomb of Celestine V, urges mercy and humility Pope Francis tells College of Cardinals to ‘speak freely' at first meeting since 2014 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a week of consistories at the Vatican – there will be three of them! On August 27 Pope Francis will place a red biretta on the heads of 20 new cardinals in an ordinary consistory. Then he'll have another consistory to approve the canonization of new saints. And then there's an extraordinary consistory, for which all the cardinals of the Church were invited to Rome. This extraordinary consistory to discuss the governance changes brought by the Roman Curia's new constitution, Praedicate evangelium. EWTN News' executive editor Matthew Bunson is covering these events in Rome. Before his trip Matthew gave us a preview on what to expect during this unusually busy August at the Vatican. Then Andrea Picciotti-Bayer talks Religious Liberty across the globe – with a look at China, Nicaragua and Nigeria.

This is a week of consistories at the Vatican – there will be three of them! On August 27 Pope Francis will place a red biretta on the heads of 20 new cardinals in an ordinary consistory. Then he'll have another consistory to approve the canonization of new saints. And then there's an extraordinary consistory, for which all the cardinals of the Church were invited to Rome. This extraordinary consistory to discuss the governance changes brought by the Roman Curia's new constitution, Praedicate evangelium. EWTN News' executive editor Matthew Bunson is covering these events in Rome. Before his trip Matthew gave us a preview on what to expect during this unusually busy August at the Vatican. Then Andrea Picciotti-Bayer talks Religious Liberty across the globe – with a look at China, Nicaragua and Nigeria.

Be sure to tune in to Vatican Insider this weekend, yet another tropical August weekend in so many parts of the world. I hope you can be in a cool place, perhaps with an iced drink, as you listen to the latest news from the Vatican, and a Special I have prepared in place of the interview segment. Next weekend, the final weekend of August, will be a big one, perhaps even historic, as the Pope will create 20 new cardinals, visit L'Aquila in Italy's central Abruzzo region, celebrate Mass with all members of the College of Cardinals, including the new ones and meet behind closed doors with the entire College to discuss his document on the reform of the Roman Curia, Praedicate Evangelium. I look at each of those events – and maybe beyond! I hope my overview of what is about to happen in the Vatican on the last four days of August will help you follow those events with a greater understanding. There may also be some big surprises so stay tuned!

Be sure to tune in to Vatican Insider this weekend, yet another tropical August weekend in so many parts of the world. I hope you can be in a cool place, perhaps with an iced drink, as you listen to the latest news from the Vatican, and a Special I have prepared in place of the interview segment. Next weekend, the final weekend of August, will be a big one, perhaps even historic, as the Pope will create 20 new cardinals, visit L'Aquila in Italy's central Abruzzo region, celebrate Mass with all members of the College of Cardinals, including the new ones and meet behind closed doors with the entire College to discuss his document on the reform of the Roman Curia, Praedicate Evangelium. I look at each of those events – and maybe beyond! I hope my overview of what is about to happen in the Vatican on the last four days of August will help you follow those events with a greater understanding. There may also be some big surprises so stay tuned!

Full Text of ReadingsNineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 117All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is Saint CajetanLike most of us, Cajetan seemed headed for an “ordinary” life—first as a lawyer, then as a priest engaged in the work of the Roman Curia. His life took a characteristic turn when he joined the Oratory of Divine Love in Rome, a group devoted to piety and charity, shortly after his ordination at 36. When he was 42 he founded a hospital for incurables at Venice. At Vicenza, he joined a “disreputable” religious community that consisted only of men of the lowest stations of life—and was roundly censured by his friends, who thought his action was a reflection on his family. He sought out the sick and poor of the town and served them. The greatest need of the time was the reformation of a Church that was “sick in head and members.” Cajetan and three friends decided that the best road to reformation lay in reviving the spirit and zeal of the clergy. Together they founded a congregation known as the Theatines—from Teate [Chieti] where their first superior-bishop had his see. One of the friends later became Pope Paul IV. They managed to escape to Venice after their house in Rome was wrecked when Emperor Charles V's troops sacked Rome in 1527. The Theatines were outstanding among the Catholic reform movements that took shape before the Protestant Reformation. Cajetan founded a monte de pieta—“mountain or fund of piety”—in Naples, one of many charitable, nonprofit credit organizations that lent money on the security of pawned objects. The purpose was to help the poor and protect them against usurers. Cajetan's little organization ultimately became the Bank of Naples, with great changes in policy. Reflection If Vatican II had been summarily stopped after its first session in 1962, many Catholics would have felt that a great blow had been dealt to the growth of the Church. Cajetan had the same feeling about the Council of Trent, held from 1545 to 1563. But as he said, God is the same in Naples as in Venice, with or without Trent or Vatican II. We open ourselves to God's power in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, and God's will is done. God's standards of success differ from ours. Saint of the Day, Copyright Franciscan Media

After the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade last week, leftists have expressed their conviction that abortion is an inalienable right, and their outrage that anyone would try to proscribe it. We look at some inspiring truth that they are failing to see. It has been 25 years since Hong Kong went from being a British colony to being handed over to China. But China is now revising its history, saying it was never a British colony. What does this mean for Hong Kong? The Roman Catholic Church has a new constitution, overseen by Pope Francis, and the official English translation was just published. It represents the most radical shakeup of the Roman Curia in a generation. And I finish off the program today by talking about some of the absurd self-contradictions in leftists' thinking. Links [03:22] Inspiring Truth (22 minutes) “Is Abortion Really Murder?” [25:32] Hong Kong (14 minutes) “Revised History: New Textbooks Teach That Hong Kong Was Never a British Colony” [39:55] Vatican's New Constitution (11 minutes) “New Vatican Constitution Unveiled” [51:02] LAST WORD: Leftists' Absurd Contradictions (7 minutes) “The Future Is Not Female, It's …”

Francis Issues Fishy “Reform” DocumentTim discussed last month's constitution by Pope Francis reforming the Roman Curia in fishy new ways (most commentators missed it since it came out days before the Russian consecration). https://www.miamiarch.org/CatholicDiocese.php?op=Article_archdiocese-of-miami-vatican-new-constitution-emphasizes-preach-the-gospel ______________________

During his historic address to a joint session of Congress in 2015, Pope Francis raised up four virtuous Americans as models of citizenship: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. That last name was certainly familiar to Catholics who came of age after Vatican II, but do young Catholics know much about this mid-century Trappist monk and author? Thomas Merton is best known for his spiritual autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain. But he was also a prolific letter writer and, though living in a monastery, engaged with the most pressing social and political issues of the 1950s and '60s: the civil rights movement, nuclear proliferation and the Vietnam War. In his new book, Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton's Catholic Vision, Greg Hillis introduces Merton to the next generation of Catholics. We ask Greg why some question Merton's Catholicity, what we should make of the monk's brief affair with a nurse and why his writing is still relevant today. In Signs of the Times, we discuss Pope Francis' major overhaul of the Roman Curia and what it means for the mission of the church.  Links from the show: Join Jesuitical in Italy! Pope Francis is drawing on Vatican II to radically change how the Catholic Church is governed Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton's Catholic Vision Wondrium special offer What's on tap? Something. Anything!—feel free to pour yourself a glass if you're listening on Friday since it's the Feast of the Annunciation. Fasting dispensed! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Saturday, March 19, unexpectedly and with no fanfare, the Vatican published the new 54-page constitution for the Roman Curia, called “Praedicate Evangelium” or “Preach the Gospel.” Among other changes, it made evangelization the Vatican's top office, opened leadership of top Vatican offices to any baptized Catholic, and made the protection of minors a permanent part of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. In this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” veteran Vatican correspondent Gerard O'Connell and host Colleen Dulle break down the document's changes in the context of Pope Francis' vision of evangelization, and what effects they are likely to have. Colleen and Gerry also discuss Pope Francis' second phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Links from the show: With Pope Francis' reform of the Roman Curia, nine years of work is coming to fruition Pope Francis is drawing on Vatican II to radically change how the Catholic Church is governed Pope Francis just opened the door for lay people to head Vatican departments Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our stories today include: (1) the latest news regarding the upcoming Consecration of Russia and Ukraine, (2) a brief overview of the new Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium (long-anticipated restructuring of the Roman Curia), (3) the current status of Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson (nominated by President Joe Biden to replace Justice Stephen Breyer on SCOTUS), and (4) Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' proclamation in honor of a female NCAA swimmer from Florida who recently finished second against a male swimmer who present himself as female.

The long awaited reform document for the Roman Curia has been issued, and its a mixed bag at best. RtT's official Sponsor: https://gloryandshine.com/ https://praylatin.com https://www.charitymobile.com/rtt.php https://www.devoutdecals.com/ https://www.blessedbegodboutique.com Sources: https://www.returntotradition.org Contact Me: Email: return2catholictradition@gmail.com Support My Work: Patreon https://www.patreon.com/AnthonyStine SubscribeStar https://www.subscribestar.net/return-to-tradition Buy Me A Coffee https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AnthonyStine Physical Mail: Anthony Stine PO Box 3048 Shawnee, OK 74802 Follow me on the following social media: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbgdypwXSo0GzWSVTaiMPJg https://www.facebook.com/ReturnToCatholicTradition/ https://twitter.com/pontificatormax https://www.minds.com/PiusXIII https://gloria.tv/Return%20To%20Tradition mewe.com/i/anthonystine --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/anthony-stine/support

On this week's Vatican Insider, Joan Lewis answers a question from a listener about the retreats of the Roman Curia. She also gives the latest news on the Church in Rome and around the world. Finally, there is her piece on the Special Lenten Churches in Rome.

On this week's Vatican Insider, Joan Lewis answers a question from a listener about the retreats of the Roman Curia. She also gives the latest news on the Church in Rome and around the world. Finally, there is her piece on the Special Lenten Churches in Rome.

On this week's Vatican Insider, Joan Lewis answers a question from a listener about the retreats of the Roman Curia. She also gives the latest news on the Church in Rome and around the world. Finally, there is her piece on the Special Lenten Churches in Rome.