What Was in Padre Pio's Last Letter? Irreplaceable Dad, Holiday Stinkiness, and Much More!

The Best in Catholic Blogging

What was Padre Pio’s Last Letter About? by Carl Olson of the CWR BlogBig Pulpit

Irreplaceable Dad – Catherine Palmer, Catholic Lane

St. Christina the Astonishing and the Holiday Stinkiness – Stacy Trasancos PhD, The American Catholic

The Cassock is to be Worn – Fr. Simon Henry, Offerimus Tibi Domine

Does Emotional Suffering Hinder Spiritual Growth? – Dan Burke, Roman Catholic Spiritual Direction

Amazing 4-D Ultrasound Captures Baby Yawning in the Womb – Steven Ertelt, Life News

A Conversion Story: From Christian Confusion to Catholic Clarity – Allison H., Catholic Sistas

Why We Cry For The Pope - Brent Stubbs, Ignitum Today

Transformative Preachers: Hildegard of Bingen and Jean Marie Baptiste Vianney – Deacon William Smith, Homiletic & Pastoral Review

Paul Weber’s Choir Does It Again – Jeffrey A. Tucker, The Chant Café

In the World but Not of the World – Fr. Dwight Longenecker, Patheos/Standing on my Head

A Fable About Suffering, Seeking And Finding God – Marcus Allen Steele

Quæritur: Should Priests be Appointed for Six Year Terms? – Fr. Z’s Blog

Creative Catholic Christmas Gifts 2012 – Lisa Cotter, Focus

Stratford Caldecott: The Book of Revelation as Liturgical Commentary – Shawn Tribe, New Liturgical Movement

For the latest on the Best Punditry and Analysis in the Catholic Blogosphere click on Big Pulpit.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis