The Majesty of God or Ecumenism?
And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God, Who was seated on the throne, saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!”—Apocalypse 19:4. I have spent a lot of time around the Mediterranean the last two years in places like Greece, Egypt and Israel. This was primarily a reconnaissance mission to discover what it will take to get Muslims to become Christian, and to find what it will take to get Eastern Christians to become Catholic. The outcome of my travels, research and experiences was this: They will only become Catholic when we take our own patrimony seriously and stop denying our own Divine Revelation. Today's article is going to give some examples from this, especially in my interactions this summer with Jews and Muslims in the Holy Land. (I was also there praying for donors' intentions and being [...]
RCT 65: “The Real Presence in the Eucharist.”
-The Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT) p. 241-250. -The Sacraments, ep. 17. -The most destructive line in the new CCC: https://www.padreperegrino.org/2023/07/destructive/ -Donate to PHL with new “Church status:” https://www.padreperegrino.org/donate/ -Peregrino Hermitage Limited has been recognized as a 501(c)(3) charity-organization for years, but the IRS just granted us the additional “Church Status.” While my chapel, Stella Maris, continues to be recognized by the Archdiocese, this upgraded governmental-status means no more 990s. This means your donations are now much more private. Of course, we will continue to be transparent about how money is used in general.
St. Mariam of Palestine.
She is the only saint I have ever heard of with so many names. Perhaps it's because she was a Greek-Catholic who grew up in Arabic-speaking Palestine in the 19th century, almost got married-off in Egypt and later joined a French Carmel but took her final vows in India. This little Palestinian from the 19th century eventually got canonized and is now known as St. Mariam Baouardy and St. Mariam of Jesus Crucified (her religious name) and The Lily of Palestine (her devotional name.) As you probably know by now, I spent July 2025 living with Eastern Catholics in the Old City Jerusalem. (See the above picture of my balcony at night.) I consecrated this entire trip to my new favorite saint, the Lily of Palestine. St. Mariam of Jesus Crucified's life was absolutely extraordinary, especially for a person trying [...]
Why the “Bifurcated-Papacy” Still Matters.
This summer, Monsignor Nicola Bux claimed that Pope Benedict XVI wrote him about public accusations that he had bifurcated the papacy before he died. Among other things, the late Pontiff allegedly wrote the Italian priest in 2014: "To suggest that I resigned only from the exercise of the ministry and not from the munus is contrary to clear dogmatic and canonical doctrine. If some journalists speak of a 'creeping schism', they do not deserve any attention." Even if Pope Benedict XVI had written that (something I doubt) the late Pontiff is still the one to blame for that rumor that there was a "contemplative Pope" and an "active Pope" over the last decade. I have already written much on this topic, so I'm not going to re-hash it all. But I will remind you that in his last public Wednesday [...]
PIP 4: Rules #7-8.
-Fr. David Nix continues "Peregrino Ignatian Pathways" (PIP) #4: Rules no. 7 and 8 of discernment from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. -Donate with updated status (see first bullet point:) https://www.padreperegrino.org/donate/ -Suscipe: “Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. All I have and call my own, You have given all to me. To You, Lord, I return it. Everything is Yours: do with it what You will. Give me only Your love and Your grace, that is enough for me.”
Conquering Death Upon the Burial Site of Adam.
I didn't publicize this much on social media, but I took July 2025 as a retreat in the Holy City of Jerusalem. I knew that (due to the war) there wouldn't be many tourists there. And I was right. I lived in the Old City with some Eastern Catholics, only about 250 meters from the Church of the Resurrection (aka the Church of the Anastasis, aka the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.) The above picture is the stunning view from my balcony at night. From that balcony I could see everything from the Anastasis to the Mount of Olives. The grey dome in the middle of the picture is the Church of the Anastasis. It's the actual site of Christ's Resurrection. Most people who have never been to the Holy Land do not realize that Church has about twenty different [...]
Cardinal Newman and “the Development of Doctrine.”
John Henry Cardinal Newman was a 19th century British convert from Anglicanism to Catholicism. In full transparency, I should be clear that today I am not going to assess his controversial views of the inerrancy of Scripture or evolution. Also, the topic of whether Newman be a good candidate for a future valid canonization is better tackled by the WM Review here. Today, I am only going to assess his teaching on the "Development of Doctrine" and what that means for Catholics in the 21st century. As a Jesuit-educated 20 year old in the late 1990s, I had been told by many in my life at that point that all the dogmatic and liturgical changes that followed Vatican II were all bona-fide "developments of doctrine." I wanted to see if that was true, so the first book I could [...]
RCT 64: The Form of the Eucharist.
-The Roman Catechism of Trent (RCT.) -Sacraments episode 16. -Donate: https://www.padreperegrino.org/donate/
What If an Apostle Had Denied the Crucifixion?
Many traditional priests tell lay people to mind their own sins, not the Church crisis. Similarly, many anonymous traditional accounts online who stood against the last Vatican regime now promote the current one. The overlap between the two groups of trads is this: Don't pay attention to the new Church crisis. Yet both groups still (thankfully!) espouse the analogy that as Christ the Bridegroom had to go to Calvary, so also must the Catholic Church (as Christ's bride) go through her final Passion. However, that puts us in a very awkward situation, because the same people who tell us the crisis ended following the 2025 Conclave can point to no Resurrection of the Church. Do we not believe the Passion of the Church must be followed by the Resurrection? Has Russia converted yet? Where's the Resurrection to the Passion of [...]
Mt. Olivet and Mt. Zion Connections.
Theological, Geographical and Historical connections between Our Lord and Our Lady that converge on two hills outside the walls of Jerusalem, namely, Mt. Olivet and Mt. Zion. https://youtu.be/yepHbYXdO0A?si=mnra6iVlUGq_5n6E