VATICAN CITY (EWTN NEWS)—Jesus’ “priestly prayer” at the Last Supper for Christian unity should inspire Catholics to pray and work it, Pope Benedict XVI said on Jan. 25.

“His priestly prayer can thus be seen as instituting the Church, the community of the disciples, who, through faith in him, are made one and share in his saving mission,” the Pope said at his weekly general audience.

He also urged Catholics to pray “for the gift of the visible unity of all Christ’s followers, so that the world may believe in the Son and in the Father who sent him.”

The Pope addressed his remarks to thousands of pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul,...READ MORE

Eclectic Convert: Shane Kapler - Why I’m Catholic

How Should We See Unbelievers? - Msgr. Charles Pope, Archdiocese of Washington

Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus Music Video, The Perfect Rebuttal - Marc Barnes, Patheos/Bad Catholic

History is Made Again as U.S. Ordinariate Receives First Parish - Randy Sly, Catholic Online

The Truth About Abortion: A Post-Abortive Woman Shares Her Story - Catholic Sistas

Brother Dan Doesn’t Like the March for Life - Donald R. McClarey, The American Catholic

On Life Day, Obama Defies Reality. . .Again - Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture

Why HHS Ruling Will Become Litmus Test for Pro-Obama Catholics - Thomas Peters, Catholic Vote/American Papist

Day...READ MORE

Major Stephen C. Flanagan of the U.S. Army Special Forces served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Tewksbury, Mass., native is in the mid-career Master in Public Administration program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. The previous year, he had completed courses in the human development and psychology program in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.

His next stop will be teaching at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in the behavioral sciences and leadership department.

Flanagan, 32, recently met with Register correspondent Justin Bell at the Harvard Catholic Student Center at St. Paul’s Parish in Cambridge, Mass., to discuss how he felt God’s...READ MORE

Parish Priests Need to Make the Time to offer Spiritual Direction - Fr. Ryan Erlenbush, New Liturgical Movement

The People of the Ark - Stephen Beale, Crisis Magazine

5 Questions on Difference Between Knowledge & Wisdom - H.H. Ambrose, Saint Peter’s List

Pope Paul VI Read the Signs of the Times Prophetically - Tony Layne, Outside the Asylum

Sacred Liturgy: Neglected Foundation to Building Culture of Life - Deborah Morlani-Tribe, New Liturgical Movement

Pro-Life Thing You Should Start Doing Today (Even if You’re Pro-Choice) - aka Mom, Shoved to Them

What does the word Nun mean & what is the Origin of Nuns? - Dr. Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

Evil Talks of Tolerance Only When It’s...READ MORE

VATICAN CITY (EWTN NEWS)—Pope Benedict XVI believes that in a noisy world of constant communication people need silence more than ever.

He outlined his thoughts in his message for World Communications Day 2012, which is entitled “Silence and Word: Path of Evangelization.” The Pope’s letter was released Jan. 24 at the Vatican press office by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.

“When messages and information are plentiful, silence becomes essential if we are to distinguish what is important from what is insignificant or secondary,” the Pope says in a statement that will be read in Catholic churches around the world on May 20, 2012.

Was St. Peter in Rome or Antioch? The Chronology of St. Peter’s Papacy - Dr. Taylor Marshall, Canterbury Tales

The Muslim Sajdah & the Catholic Prostration are Two Very Different Concepts - Shannon M. Jones, New Oxford Review

Stay-at-Home-Mom Blues - Theresa Thomas, Integrated Catholic Life™

E.U. Threatens Hungary over Pro-Marriage Stance - Kathleen Gilbert, LifeSiteNews.com

Not So Fast Neo-Catechumenal’s - Patrick Archbold, Creative Minority Report

Actor Mark Wahlberg Walking in the Footsteps of St. Paul - Carlos Espinosa, Living The Faith On A High Wire

How SNAP, Lawyers & Media Conspire Against the Catholic Church - Dave Pierre, TheMediaReport.com

Girl Scouts Leadership:...READ MORE

On Jan. 19, we published an article on a renewed effort by some legislators in New Jersey to legally redefine marriage. The article referenced a statement issued by New Jersey bishops in 2009, when such a legislative redefinition was first attempted in the state.

On Jan. 20, the Catholic bishops of New Jersey issued a new statement on the defense of marriage. We would like to present that statement in its entirety here.

A Statement by the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey on Marriage as a Union of One Man and One Woman

January 20, 2012

Marriage as a union of a man and a woman has its roots in natural law. Throughout all of human history marriage has been held to be a union of man and...READ MORE

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire intends to sign a bill that would redefine marriage, but the National Organization for Marriage wants to prevent the bill from getting to her desk in the first place.

But with another state senator, Mary Margaret Haugen, a Democrat from Camano Island, coming out in favor of the measure, the bill has the 25 votes it needs to pass out of the upper chamber. The bill is also expected to pass the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives.

Gregoire, a Democrat who is not seeking re-election, recently changed course on the issue and requested the legislation to change the legal definition of marriage.

Washingtonians voted against this stance in 1998 when...READ MORE