Matthew Schmitz

Luis Palau, an Argentine-born evangelist who has in many ways taken up the mantle of Billy Graham, speaks of his friendship with Pope Francis : One day I said to him, ‘You seem to love the Bible a lot,’ and he said, ‘You know, my financial manager [for the Archdiocese of Buenos . . . . Continue Reading »

George Weigel writes in National Review : Cardinal Bergoglio was used in 2005; he knows precisely who used him and why; and while he is a man of the Gospel who is not looking to settle scores, he is also a man of prudence who knows who his friends, and who his enemies, are. Here’s the story: . . . . Continue Reading »

“To those who are now promising to fix all your problems, I say, ‘Go and fix yourself.’ . . . Have a change of heart. Get to confession, before you need it even more! The current crisis will not be improved by magicians from outside the country and nor will [improvement] come . . . . Continue Reading »

About an hour after the world saw white smoke, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, stepped out to offer the crowd his blessing. But before that, he asked for its prayers. This is a humble man, a prince of the church born into a working-class family who’s noted for riding public . . . . Continue Reading »

Watch this page for white smoke. . . . . Continue Reading »

Jennifer Rubin applauds Rand Paul’s remarks on gay marriage and tells social conservatives to pay attention : As much as I disagree with Rand Paul on his larger vision on foreign policy, he is worth heeding on marriage. Americans have not bought into the “traditional marriage” . . . . Continue Reading »

The mystery is over : On Tuesday, the Vatican press office revealed the composition of the colored smoke used during the conclave to signal the results of the voting. Earlier, a Vatican spokesman had said only that the smoke was made “from several different elements.” Both recipes are . . . . Continue Reading »

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That is the question asked by Austin Ruse in a column at the  Catholic Thing . Ruse calls Burke a “true pastor and a man who has all the gifts – ecclesial, spiritual, and temporal – to be Bishop of Rome.” Ruse is hardly the only one to tout Burke’s name. A Catholic . . . . Continue Reading »

Citing a shortage of swordsmen, Saudi Arabia is considering performing executions using firing squads instead of public beheadings : A joint Saudi committee composed of representatives of the ministries of interior, justice and health is mulling the replacement of beheading with firing squads for . . . . Continue Reading »