It’s “American Saints Week” at the Register.

Today we conclude our miniseries on sainthood causes of American men and women with a portrait of a Venezuelan woman who made her home in New Jersey. We also hear from an expert on saints about the importance of recognizing holiness in people of our time.

Maria Esperanza de Bianchini

The spiritual example of Maria Esperanza de Bianchini resonates with many people around the world.

The Venezuelan wife of Geo Bianchini, mother of seven and grandmother of 20, she spent a lot of time in the United States, including the last eight months of her life, and died in Long Beach Island, N.J., in 2004.

In addition to being a loving wife and mother,...READ MORE

U.S. Ordinariate to be Established Next - Fr. Christopher Phillips, The Anglo-Catholic

Indulgence Available for World Youth Day Participants - CatholicCulture.org

What Are the Greatest Shakespeare Movies? - Joe Carter, First Things/First Thoughts

Astounding Subterranean Salt Cathedral in Poland - Thomas Peters, Catholic Vote/American Papist

Why are Catholic Schools so Good at Sports? - Brian Fraga, Our Sunday Visitor

Cluniac art at Berzé-la-Ville - John Whitehead, Once I Was A Clever Boy

The Old Testament Was Made for Man - Devin Rose, St. Joseph’s Vanguard

Just Sex: Contractual Obligation II - Melinda Selmys, Sexual Authenticity

Fatherless Youths Run Riot - Joanne Bogle,...READ MORE

Making the Gospel ‘Go Viral’ - Phil Lawler, CatholicCulture.org/On the News

Does a Parish Priest Have Time to Blog? - Fr. Ryan Erlenbush, The New Theological Movement

An Unusual Priest and Hero, Fr. Emil Kapuan - Fr. Simon Henry, Offerimus Tibi Domine

G.K. Chesterton’s Distributism - Dale Ahlquist, The Distributist Review

London Riots: Society has Undermined the Family - William Oddie, Catholic Herald

Sioux Falls Celebrates Restoration of St. Joseph Cathedral - Catholic News Agency

How to Respond to Anti-Catholic Comments Made in the Workplace - Eric Sammons, Our Sunday Visitor

Trying to Fly with One Wing: 13 Principles of Discovering the Truth - Stanley D. Williams PhD, Catholic...READ MORE

WASHINGTON — Catholic leaders have joined the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to protest new rules that mandate contraceptive services for employee health insurance. And they are seeking to avoid an impasse that could force a drastic resolution. 

The USCCB has asked the Department of Health and Human Services to broaden the rule’s religious exemption, characterizing it as too “narrow.” HHS has not signaled whether it will review the exemption; it has provided a 60-day period to register comments.

The definition of what constitutes a religious organization that could be exempted from the coverage requirements is a main cause of concern for Church leaders.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo,...READ MORE

JERUSALEM — In 2003, Margo Tarazi from East Jerusalem couldn’t make a living, so she decided to move to Holland, her mother’s birthplace.

“I worked at my family’s incoming travel agency until 2002, but there wasn’t any work because of the second intifada,” Tarazi, now 35, said recently. She was referring to the Palestinian uprising that brought tourism to the Holy Land almost to a standstill. “Then I spent a year and a half working for an NGO [non-governmental organization], but I didn’t like it,” she said.

Eager to start a life away from Israeli military checkpoints and Palestinian suicide bombers, Tarazi utilized her Dutch passport. Then, her maternal grandmother, the person she had...READ MORE

WASHINGTON (EWTN News) —Two leading Catholic bishops have asked their fellow bishops to encourage pastors and parishioners to support Catholic Relief Services’ emergency-relief efforts in the Horn of Africa, suggesting that churches hold a second collection to address the need.

“Every day we are seeing more and more heartbreaking news about the drought and famine in Somalia and the eastern parts of Africa. We see millions of people being forced from their homes, leaving behind what meager possessions they had, and walking for days over rough terrain,” Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., wrote.

Archbishop Dolan heads the U.S. Conference of...READ MORE

For Christopher Dawson is More Like a Movement than a Man - Carl Olson, Ignatius Insight Scoop

Protect the Poor, Not Poverty Programs - John Couretas, Acton Institute/Acton Commentary

Myth Busters: Catholics Worship Mary - Brent Stubbs, Almost Not Catholic

Contraception & Healthcare Rights - Christopher O. Tollefsen, Public Discourse

Pundits want Pope to Change His “Policies”, How to Explain He Can’t? - William Oddie, Catholic Herald

Eclectic Convert: Julie Nicholson - Why I’m Catholic

Pope Benedict XVI Rebuts Criticism of World Youth Day - Patrick Madrid

Cardinal Pell on ‘Authentic Catholicism vs Cafeteria Catholicism’ - Lux Occulta

Cardinal Pell: A Good Old-Fashioned Irish...READ MORE

It’s “American Saints Week” at the Register.

We’ve been looking at updates in the cases of several American men and women whose causes for beatification have been ongoing. Yesterday, we spoke about a new cause, that of Father Aloysius Ellacuria. Today, we look at another cause that was just introduced this year.

Father Joseph Muzquiz

Although devoted to his Basque heritage, Father Ellacuria became an American citizen, as did Father Joseph Muzquiz, who worked and died in the Boston Archdiocese.

Father Muzquiz was one of the first three priests ordained for Opus Dei and the first Opus Dei priest to come to the United States. He arrived in 1949 to establish Opus Dei at the request of...READ MORE