Taken as a whole, the online Catholic world can look more like an abstract pointillist painting than a coherent landscape. To borrow the imagery of Isaiah Berlin, the internet environment encourages us to think like foxes rather than hedgehogs. Virtual discussions roam over many small things (e.g., the kerfuffle last spring over Harrison Butker’s graduation Read more
A bus operator in Poland has announced that bus 666 will no longer run to Hel Located on Poland’s Baltic coast, Hel is a well-loved tourist destination. However, certain groups of Christian conservatives have expressed their disapproval of the number on a bus that leads to a location whose name resembles the word “hell” in Read more
Locals in a small village in Japan believe that a cave beneath a mountain is the entrance to hell. A news reporter, Seiji Nakazawa, learned about it from someone he met while traveling in the north of Japan. Despite numerous stories about the cavern, most people who recount them have never seen it firsthand. According Read more
When the human soul becomes aware of itself, it develops a marvellous desire to grow. It seeks spiritual food. In the early stages, most of us seek sweetness – what I sometimes call “Spiritual Pavlova.” I fed on righteousness, beauty, goodness, affirmation holiness. The amazing grace I sought was very sweet indeed. I read positive Read more
Some Catholics may be surprised to know that there are parables of Jesus in the Islamic faith. These Sufi parables of Jesus are not the parables we have in the gospels. Rather, they are stories written to illustrate Jesus’ teachings. The one I like that is simple and yet powerful in its wisdom. It goes Read more
Recently, “Grapevine” reprinted a notice originally on a billboard outside Christ Church Cathedral, Vancouver, Canada. Apology If you’ve been told that God is some kind of punishing, capricious, angry bastard with a killer surveillance system, who is basically always disappointed with you for being a human being, then you have been lied to. The church Read more
The Vatican felt obliged this week to reaffirm that Pope Francis believes in a central tenet of Catholicism, that there is a hell. That odd declaration came after the newspaper La Repubblica published a front-page article on Thursday by an atheist, left-wing and anticlerical giant of Italian journalism, who reported that during a recent meeting Read more
A Samoan woman claiming to have suffered stigmata wounds has told of a vision she has had of heaven and hell. Toaipuapuaga Opapo Soana’i, 23, spoke during a Mass at the Catholic cathedral at Apia last week, the Samoa Observer reported. She delivered a message that heaven and hell are real. The young woman spoke Read more
In a Lenten message strong on mercy, Pope Francis has warned the wealthy and powerful that if they ignore the poor, they risk hell. The Pope’s message for Lent 2016 warned about the corrupting influence of money and power. And it pointing out that caring for the poor, and not just praying for them, is Read more
Pope Francis has warned the Italian Mafia that they will end up in hell if they do not change their lives and stop doing evil. He made these remarks during a prayer vigil in Rome for victims of the Mafia. “Men and women of the Mafia, please change your lives, convert, stop doing evil,” the Read more