A 102-meter cross, set to become the world's second-highest, is being built in Brazil. In Cruz Alta, a city of about 60,000 in Rio Grande do Sul, construction began in September. Plans include the cross, a cable car and a theme park. The project is expected to cost around R$30 million (roughly €5 million), largely from public funds allocated through parliamentary amendments. Only the 152-meter cross at Spain's Valley of the Fallen would be taller. #newsSvmkxgbogg
The Russia-tied French billionaires opening UK's first historical theme park – explainer French company Puy du Fou is planning a £600m history-themed park in Oxfordshire. A Guardian investigation has found the company continued working with associates of Konstantin Malofeyev, an under-sanctions pro-Kremlin oligarch, on plans for a theme park in Russian-occupied Crimea for longer than it had previously disclosed and later explored projects in Iran and China. Business reporter Rob Davies explains his findings, including documents that raise questions about whether Puy du Fou’s activities tested the limits of EU sanctions imposed after Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. He also examines the far-right politics associated with Puy du Fou’s founder, Philippe de Villiers, and asks whether the company is a suitable choice to tell Britain’s national story Kremlin connections: the Russia links to a £600m UK theme park ► Kremlin connections: the Russia links to a £600m … The Guardian publishes …More
"I perceive my soul in the midst of my body as in a purgatory, conformed and like to the true purgatory, in measure, however, that the body may be able to endure it and not die ; yet the pain goes on increasing gradually until death. I see the soul estranged to all things, even spiritual, which can give it nourishment as joy, delight, consolation ; and it has no power of tasting anything temporal or spiritual by will, by understanding, by memory, so that I can say, " This thing pleases me more than that other."
‘HOW GOD MAKES USE OF PURGATORY…’ ~ ‘Treatise on Purgatory’ by Saint Catherine of Genoa; 1915; Chapters XVII; pp. 45-48; part I [Saint Catherine of Genoa ~ XV-XVI Century; born: Genoa, Republic of Genoa/ died: Genoa, Republic of Genoa; (aged 62-63); Mystic; Spiritual Writer] Chapter XVII ~ THE SAINT, IN CONCLUSION, APPLIES ALL THAT HAS BEEN SAID OF THE SOULS IN PURGATORY TO WHAT SHE FEELS AND EXPERIENCES IN HER OWN MIND. THAT which I have thus described as going on within the souls who are actually in purgatory, I have experienced in my own soul, especially during the last two years ; and each day I see and feel it more clearly. I perceive my soul in the midst of my body as in a purgatory, conformed and like to the true purgatory, in measure, however, that the body may be able to endure it and not die ; yet the pain goes on increasing gradually until death. I see the soul estranged to all things, even spiritual, which can give it nourishment as joy, delight, consolation ; and it has no …More
TORRECIUDAD CRISIS: Vatican Commissioner Arrives as Bishop Demands Return of Ancient Virgin Statue The Torreciudad controversy has reached a critical stage as Archbishop Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, dean of the Roman Rota and papal commissioner for Torreciudad, presided over the 34th Marian Family Day on September 12, 2026, before nearly 7,000 pilgrims. At the center of the dispute is the historic Romanesque image of Our Lady of the Angels, an ancient statue traditionally venerated at the original Torreciudad hermitage before being placed in the new sanctuary when it opened in 1975. The Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón, led by Bishop Ángel Pérez Pueyo, maintains that the statue should return to its historic chapel and has challenged the legal basis for its permanent transfer. Opus Dei rejects accusations of unlawful removal or retention, arguing that agreements and episcopal authorizations from the 1960s permitted the image to be placed in the new sanctuary. The Vatican has yet to issue the …More
What employees will not recover The other half of the story is published by the Association of Lay Vatican Employees: Vaticano: è possibile recuperare il biennio perduto dai dipendenti?. The frozen biennium is not a suspended payment: it forms part of remuneration and enters the calculation base for pensions and severance, so reducing it reduces both. In the union’s own calculation, a level-IV employee with thirty years of service ahead loses about €14,430 in salary, €1,400 in severance and €6,734 in pension: €22,564 in total. Recovering it by working two more years is practically impossible, because in the Vatican people start working well past thirty and the seniority cap is forty years. Add to this that the pension fund remains under a single administrator and that the same union has been asking to see its accounts for two years. Curia cardinals recover 10 %. Employees do not recover the biennium.
An anonymous seminarian writing from Lima, Peru, paints a picture of Catholic life that is worse than Germany: seminaries and convents “dramatically empty,” kneelers removed from churches, Communion distributed in the hands, children’s Masses with puppets and dolls, and national Catholic youth gatherings with secular music. He describes priests becoming “community entertainers” and homilies reduced to superficial, lukewarm messages. He criticizes liturgies centered on creativity, community and local culture rather than the sacrifice and adoration. In his account, doctrine is no longer treated as fixed, but as continually open to reinterpretation.
¿EN QUÉ MOMENTO SE JODIÓ LA IGLESIA? Un joven seminarista, que pide permanecer en el anonimato por temor a represalias, comparte un testimonio doloroso sobre la realidad que contempla dentro de la Iglesia: seminarios vacíos, liturgias desacralizadas, homilías superficiales, pérdida del sentido de lo sagrado y una identidad católica cada vez más diluida. No es simplemente el lamento de un joven. Es el grito de quien entregó su vida a Cristo y no quiere encontrar una Iglesia que haya olvidado quién es su Señor. Cuando la Eucaristía deja de ocupar el centro, cuando el altar pierde su carácter sagrado, cuando la liturgia se convierte en espectáculo y cuando todo parece susceptible de ser reinterpretado, la pregunta resulta inevitable: ¿Qué hemos hecho con la Iglesia que recibimos? El artículo de La Abeja plantea una reflexión que ningún católico que ame verdaderamente a la Iglesia debería ignorar. Y, a pesar de todo, queda la esperanza: necesitamos sacerdotes santos, fieles a Cristo, a la …More
16.09.2026 POLICE TO CONSULT VATICAN TODAY : IS CITING THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, VATICAN COUNCIL II AND THE BIBLE LEGAL AT THE VATICAN ?. Over the last five nights I have been sleeping outside, in front of the basilica of St. Peter,under the arch in front of the Holy See Press Office. I used cardboard cartons. There were many people sleeping there in various places. Some were also tourists. Today morning I was checked by the police as at about seven in the morning I was waiting for the Priests with Sant Egidio. I had written something last night and I was to give it to them. Like the others sitting there, who were sleeping outside, I was ready to leave when the police asked us to do so. Then one of the police, noticed the message fixed on my knapsack. He photographed it and said the Vatican would be asked about it. They seemed to have known about me. I was asked if was a writer. I said yes, I write on the Internet. The message said: Catechism of the Catholic Church 846, …More
Trump Approves $2.8 Billion Arms Sale to Israel, Including 40,000 One-Ton Bombs nytimes.com/2026/09/15/us/politics/trump-israel-b… The package would be among the largest deliveries of U.S. munitions to Israel. By Michael Crowley and Edward Wong Reporting from Washington Sept. 15, 2026 The Trump administration has approved a $2.8 billion sale of heavy bombs to Israel, according to a U.S. official, in what would be among the largest deliveries of U.S. munitions there even as American public support for the country declines. The proposed sale would include 40,000 one-ton bombs whose use by Israel in Gaza and Lebanon has drawn international anger because of the civilian harm caused by their wide blast radius. Human rights groups and some foreign governments have condemned Israel for dropping the giant munitions in densely populated areas, sometimes killing dozens of civilians in strikes targeting just one individual. The package would include 20,000 each of America’s 2,000-pound MK-84 and …More
Worse than Germany: On 13 September, Rev Olivier de Pétiville held a Novus Ordo spectacle at the Sainte-Blandine church in Lyon, France. He has been in this parish since 1 September. The Eucharist featured contemporary praise music, singers and musicians, large screens, a headset microphone, and congregants raising their hands. Only karaoke was missing.
Un fidèle sort enthousiaste d’une célébration de l’église Saint Blandine de Lyon : « Une messe incroyable », écrit-il sur Facebook.
Homily Thursday, September 17, 2026 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 "By the grace of God I am what I am." Paul is filled with God's grace, as we are. Luke 7:36-50 "She began to bathe his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with the ointment." Peace and joy flowed from her heart like the sweetest of perfumes. Biblical texts: NAB-RE Normand Thomas.
A man was on a vacation overseas, traveling through a region famous for its breathtaking historic castles. He bought a local guidebook and started mapping out his itinerary. The visiting hours for most of the estates were pretty strict, but one page caught his eye. It was an exclusive listing titled "The Tour of a Lifetime," featuring a photo of an absolutely stunning castle. He immediately knew he had to go. The listing had a strange catch: there was no upfront ticket cost, but you had to book a specific time slot in advance. Intrigued, the guy called the number and locked in a reservation for the very next day. When he arrived, he was greeted by a polite caretaker at the front door. "Are the other people in my tour group already inside?" the tourist asked. "No group," the caretaker replied. "This is a solo experience, and there is no guide." He gave the man a quick rundown of the castle's history and told him what to look out for—the grand dining halls, the medieval armor on the second …More
¿EN QUÉ MOMENTO SE JODIÓ LA IGLESIA? Un joven seminarista, que pide permanecer en el anonimato por temor a represalias, comparte un testimonio doloroso sobre la realidad que contempla dentro de la Iglesia: seminarios vacíos, liturgias desacralizadas, homilías superficiales, pérdida del sentido de lo sagrado y una identidad católica cada vez más diluida. No es simplemente el lamento de un joven. Es el grito de quien entregó su vida a Cristo y no quiere encontrar una Iglesia que haya olvidado quién es su Señor. Cuando la Eucaristía deja de ocupar el centro, cuando el altar pierde su carácter sagrado, cuando la liturgia se convierte en espectáculo y cuando todo parece susceptible de ser reinterpretado, la pregunta resulta inevitable: ¿Qué hemos hecho con la Iglesia que recibimos? El artículo de La Abeja plantea una reflexión que ningún católico que ame verdaderamente a la Iglesia debería ignorar. Y, a pesar de todo, queda la esperanza: necesitamos sacerdotes santos, fieles a Cristo, a la …More
A Land of Fire and Ice