Love him or hate him, the clip below from Glenn Beck about his recent visit to the Vatican is both provocative and interesting.  I’m not sure how much I make of the recent State Department listing of the Vatican as a “money laundering” concern.  Beck not surprisingly sees a nefarious plan at work.  Regardless, his citing of the spiritual war ahead is hardly far fetched. Separa... More

Face it: you wish your morning walk to breakfast was this awesome. ... More

Budget cuts had led to the unfortunate appearance of vegetation in awkward places. ... More

Very notable news, via Vatican expert Sandro Magister, following the aftermath of the Justice & Peace’s ill-advised white paper (emphasis mine): Precisely when the G20 summit in Cannes was coming to its weak and uncertain conclusion, on that same Friday, November 4 at the Vatican, a smaller summit convened in the secretariat of state was doing damage control on the latest of many mom... More

Many, many good people have weighed-in on this week’s news that the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has released a White Paper on international finance and development. My thoughts about it are here and here. Here’s the best of what I’ve read from others on the topic. Mark Brumley, Editor of Ignatius Press: If the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is trying to mak... More

UPDATE 2: A Round-Up of Excellent Comments On The Justice & Peace White Paper. 24 hours have passed since the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace released its note (i.e., “White Paper”) on finance and development. I find that’s about how much time it takes to get a good snapshot of where general opinion is on a given news story, so now it’s time to take stock over... More

Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on. Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J. There was lots of reaction to the news reports of “The Vatican” supposedly endorsing the creation of a world centralized bank. CatholicLane.com has an article by Robert Moynihan of Inside the Vatican in which he implores people to actually read the text of the document. http://cvot... More

UPDATE 2: A Round-Up of Excellent Comments On The Justice & Peace White Paper UPDATE: See my follow-up comments published today: “Fact Check: Why Catholics Who Disagree With Justice & Peace White Papers Aren’t “Cafeteria Catholics.” You may have seen this story which was headlined earlier today on the Drudge Report: The Vatican called on Monday for the establishment... More

The pictures say it all: A boy runs to hug Pope Benedict XVI as he leads a weekly general audience in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Feb. 2. The boy managed to sneak through security to greet the pontiff. (Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters) Pope Benedict XVI greets a child during his weekly general audience on Feb. 2 in Paul VI hall at The Vatican. (Tiziana Fabi / AFP – Getty Images) A boy, ... More

And it looks like the papal security used a “nose hold” to subdue him: Photo caption: Getty Images – A man (C) is stopped by security guards as he tried to shout at Pope Benedict XVI during his weekly general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on January 26, 2011. The man was far away from the Pope in the middle of Paul VI hall. ...READ MORE... More