The top-left picture was drawn by Fr. Mario Rupnik SJ.  The top-right is an icon I snapped at the Greek Catholic Church in Athens earlier this year.  National Catholic Register wrote about the Jesuit who drew the above left picture: "Father Rupnik, a priest and artist, has been accused of spiritual, psychological, and sexual abuse of religious sisters. He was removed from the Jesuits last June."  Even the Knights of Columbus wanted his removed from the National Basilica in DC as Detroit Catholic reported.  It's unfortunate that "art" which mocks Our Lord and Our Lady and the saints is asked to be removed only once "the artist" is found to [...]

About 15 years ago, I went to Colorado Springs to visit both the Focus on the Family Visitor Center and New Life Church. The latter is a Protestant community nearby with nearly 14,000 congregants. I always half-joke that Colorado Springs is the "Protestant Vatican," but I am half-serious: These two centers alone are the engines for countless missions in dozens of countries, not to mention the hundreds of other Protestant communities in Colorado Springs. In Colorado Springs, many Catholics might be surprised to see that Protestants have a relatively unabashed approach to "sacramentals." Many Protestant Mega-Church communities now sell "holy water" from the Jordan and "holy oil" made from olives [...]