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The Catholic Church teaches that the religion of Christ is the fulfillment of the religion revealed through Moses, not its rejection. The Mosaic Law, given to the Israelites, contained fundamental moral and religious truths rooted in God’s covenant with His people. These truths, such as the worship of one God and the moral prece…
The narrative of Moses striking the rock appears in two key passages of the Old Testament: Exodus 17:1–7 and Numbers 20:1–13 . In both accounts, the Israelites, wandering in the desert, faced a dire shortage of water. Their complaints against Moses and God reflected their desperation and lack of trust. God instructed Moses to st…
Freemasonry emerged in the late 16th to early 17th centuries, initially as a fraternal organization rooted in the traditions of stonemason guilds. Over time, it evolved into a speculative institution with rituals and teachings drawing from various philosophical and esoteric traditions. By the 18th century, Freemasonry had spread…
Christian Science, founded by Mary Baker Eddy in the 19th century, teaches that illness is an illusion rooted in incorrect thinking. Practitioners aim to heal by aligning their thoughts with divine truth, using mental suggestion to overcome physical ailments. This approach, often called auto-suggestion, relies on the patient’s b…
Catholicism presents death not as an end to be feared but as a passage to eternal life, rooted in the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Church teaches that human beings are created with an immortal soul, destined for eternal communion with God (CCC 366). Death, while a consequence of original sin, is transformed by…
The holiness of the Catholic Church is not a human achievement but a divine gift, established by Jesus Christ as the means of salvation for humanity. The Church is described as the Body of Christ, with Christ as its head, guiding it through the Holy Spirit. This divine origin sets the Church apart from any institution that could…
The fourteenth century was a turbulent period for the Catholic Church, marked by political and ecclesiastical challenges that culminated in the Western Schism (1378–1417). This crisis arose after the death of Pope Gregory XI, who had returned the papacy to Rome from Avignon, where it had resided for nearly seventy years. The ele…
The Catholic doctrine of purgatory holds that souls who die in God’s grace but are not yet fully purified undergo a process of cleansing before entering heaven. This belief is grounded in the Church’s teaching on the necessity of holiness for eternal communion with God ( Catechism of the Catholic Church , 1030–1032). Prayers for…
Marriage, in its essence, is a covenant rooted in the natural order, established by God for the mutual support of spouses and the procreation of children. The Catholic Church teaches that this natural institution was elevated by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament for baptized Christians (CCC 1601). This sacramental character d…
Such an objection recalls the words of Judas, “Why was it not sold and given to the poor?” Jn. XII., 5. In any case, the lavish generosity of the Catholic Church in the worship of God does not interfere with her work for the poor. She is the most active of all Churches in that work. No other Church has so many institutions, hosp…
I do not feel very proud of myself. I am very proud of the Catholic Faith which, owing to God’s sheer goodness, I now possess. But you have a wrong idea of Torquemada. He was head of the Inquisition in Spain, a great ‘theologian and a good man. All the opprobrium associated with the Inquisition has been heaped upon his head, but…
I have just shown that five reputable historians record the events, the four Evangelists and St. Paul. Their books are as historical as any others. Tacitus, the Roman historian, writing about 70 years after the death of Christ, mentions Him. Also Josephus, the Jewish historian. Also Roman historians were not much concerned with …
Why do Catholics repeat the same prayer over and over again when they pray the Rosary? Is this not the vain repetition condemned by Christ in Matthew 6:7?
Doctors are not infallible, and irreligious doctors are often only too ready to please women by telling them that they are unable to fulfill the duties of motherhood. And as a matter of fact contraception normally has a worse effect upon a woman’s health than childbirth. She becomes a neurasthenic wreck in the end. But in any ca…
The fact that McCabe and myself disagree means simply that you must not reject the Catholic Church because McCabe rejects it, nor accept it because I accept it McCabe’s rejection of it does not make it false; my acceptance of it does not make it true. It is either false or true independently of McCabe and myself. A man with ordi…
Hostility towards freedom to do wrong, or express false blasphemies and irreligious doctrines is not a crime. It would be a crime to be indifferent to these things. True religion gives freedom from error, and freedom to love and serve God.
If a Protestant wants to marry a Catholic, and his conscience does not protest against it, he may sign the promise in regard to the children. But if the Protestant really believed the Catholic faith to be evil, and that his personal religion was the only true religion, then he has no right to promise that any of his children wil…
It would not be the Rosary then, but some other type of devotion. Nor would such a devotion be as efficient, for meditation whilst saying ten Hail Marys is better than meditation whilst saying one. But your trouble seems to be based on the mere question of number. That is quite immaterial.
Angels are purely spiritual beings. A brick is a purely material being. Man, with body and soul, is partly material and partly spiritual. God has no material body, and is purely spiritual. To complete the external manifestations of His perfections, He created beings of a purely spiritual nature—angels. The angels, then, are defi…
Christ knew that His death was not all in vain. He died to give those who want it the means to save their souls. As those who want to save their souls have the means provided by the merit of Christ’s death, His sacrifice was a perfect success, accomplishing all that it was intended to accomplish. It was certainly never meant to …
No. Hadrian IV. was an Englishman; Martin IV. a Frenchman; Zachary a Greek; Gregory III. a Syrian; Hadrian VI. a Dutchman. The present Pope happens to be an Italian, but the Cardinals could quite easily elect an Englishman next time, should they think fit.
That is not true. No man has the right to alienate his life. Men have got the right to alienate their goods. And gambling is not stealing. If I take from Brown a dollar belonging to Brown against his will, I steal. But if we mutually agree to each putting a dollar in a hat and drawing lots as to which of us shall have the two do…
He did. And the Pope demands independence of any earthly king’s authority precisely that Caesar, with his worldly power, may not interfere with the things that belong to God.
Our codes are totally different. I am bound only to safeguard the manifestations of conscience made to me by people in Confession, and to preserve such other natural and committed secrets as involve no injustice to others.
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