Jan van Kessel the Elder, “Still Life of Flowers and Grapes Encircling a Monstrance”, ca. 1670
Jan van Kessel the Elder, “Still Life of Flowers and Grapes Encircling a Monstrance”, ca. 1670 (photo: Public Domain)

Real Presence, Catholic Cartoonist (Aug. 17)

A recent Pew study on the Holy Eucharist that found that only one-third of Catholics believe in the Real Presence. How did we reach this point, and what can we do about it? This week on Register Radio we talk to Register Correspondent Peter Jesserer Smith. Also, in an age where comedy seems dead, what is a Catholic cartoonist to do? We find out when we talk to Register cartoonist Patrick Cross.

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