 WORLDWIDE
NEWS & VIEWSwith a Catholic slant
HEADLINES:
Proof of Life in the Womb documented in crystal clear photo of fetus' hand grasping doctor's finger after operation to save baby, but Fox News bans photo, stirs controversy.
 
Fox won't show it, but we will. With amazing evidence of life inside the womb, photographer Michael Clancy captured on film the phenomenal photo of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Armas grasping the finger of Dr. Joseph P. Bruner with his infinitesimal still-being-formed hand in a gesture of gratitude for the surgeon's efforts to alleviate the effects of spina bifida at the parents' request. Matt Drudge of internet fame intended to use the photo on his Fox program a while back but the network, fearing he would use it to rail against partial-birth abortions, refused him permission, creating a real stink with pro-lifers and freedom of speech advocates. Fox's loss is the DAILY CATHOLIC readers' gain in verifying undeniable proof that life does begin at conception. For more, click on Sanctity of Life photo.
Bishops nearing eleventh hour in showdown over compliance with Pope's directives in Ex Corde Ecclesia, call for end to Iraq boycott and Nazareth mosque
The bishops continued with their end-of-the-millennium conference in Washington D.C. this week as some of the more liberal bishops tried to stave off a vote on conformity for Catholic Education per the Pope's Ex Corde Ecclesia. The showdown is today as a vote will be called for with 2/3rds majority needed for passage. Meanwhile dissident homosexuals tried to disrupt proceedings with protests across from the conference, but the bishops dismissed it as saying they must follow the true teachings of the Church on homosexuality which undeniably call for abstinence. Besides calling for an end to the boycott in Iraq, they voted unanimously to ask Israel to stop the construction of the proposed mosque in Nazareth. For more, click on NCCB.
Holy Father inaugurates magnificent chapel that transcends millenniums
Those who are privileged to attend a private Mass in the Holy Father's papal chapel will see what many are calling the "Sistine Chapel for 2000" with mosaic artwork that transcends the centuries and millenniums inside the papal oratory of the Vatican Apostolic Palace which is called the Redemptoris Mater Chapel. If you haven't seen pictures, you'll enjoy the description inside. For more, click on New Paphapel
 More and more it looks like Iraq will be launching point for Pope's historic "Jubilee Journey" in January
From all indications coming out of Baghdad the beginning the Holy Father's historic "Jubilee Journey" could be on again, as early as January 16-20 in 2000. That is the word from Chaldean Patriarch Raphael Bidawid whose predictions in the past have been right on. Never giving up hope that the Papal trip would still take place, he has worked closely with the Holy See and the Saddam Hussein regime to keep communications open and has indicated that Vatican officials will fly to Baghdad next week to lay out details for the Pope's itinerary. The NCCB has voted to ask Bill Clinton to rescind the economic embargo against Iraq while at the same time sites in Ur have been undergoing renovation at Hussein's command paving the way for the Holy Father to retrace the footsteps of Abraham. All that's missing is a formal invitation from Saddam. For more, click on Iraq.
 For additional religious and secular headlines from around the world, we refer you to our new up-to-the-minute NEWS ticker billboard by clicking on the ARROW
44 and counting,
hoping and praying...
Coming
Tomorrow:
18th selection of the TOP 100 CATHOLICS OF THE CENTURY
A layman's perspective on the Church today in Pat Ludwa's column VIEW FROM THE PEW
The fifty-fifth installment in our new feature on the treasures of the great Deposit of Faith in our daily series APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH
Retro issues of our on-going series in our feature series on the Church today with the Archives of WHERE IS HOLY MOTHER CHURCH HEADING AS WE NEAR THE MILLENNIUM?
Time Capsules in Church History with MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES focusing on November 18th.
DAILY LITURGY for Thursday in Ordinary Time plus the Feast of the Dedication of Sts. Peter and Paul Basilicas in Rome and the Feast of Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne, Virgin, Religious and Missionary plus the 33rd Friday in Ordinary Time.
Words of wisdom from Bishop Fulton J. Sheen in SIMPLY SHEEN
...and more in our 219th issue for 1999!
  
 Appreciation of Purgatory
The Heroic Act of Charity
Today we continue with our new series in the search to uncover the wonderful treasures of the Church contained in the great Deposit of Faith. We look again today at that merciful gift from God - Purgatory - where we are able to be cleansed before looking upon the Beatific Vision forever. There have been many misconceptions about this intermediate "stopping off point" between earth and Heaven and today we continue with the Heroic Act of Charity. For the fifty-fourth installment, click on APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH
Events in Church History
 On this date 697 years ago in 1302 Saint Gertrude the Great died at a Benedictine monastery of Helfta in Germany at the age of 46 after a lifetime of writings and mysticism that included receiving the special Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory. She was canonized 374 years later by Pope Clement X who assigned her feastday as November 16th. For other pertinent events throughout the centuries that are memorable in Church history today, click on MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES
 Tokyo's Archbishop Cardinal Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi has been shepherd of Japan's largest See for thirty years in his attempts to solidify Catholics in Asia
 Our one-hundred-twenty-fourth red-hat we feature, in alphabetical order is the 71 year-old Japanese Cardinal Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi, Archbishop of Tokyo, the largest city in the world. For the past thirty years he has been shepherd of the Tokyo See as well as a unifier of Asian Catholics. He was elevated to the cardinalate by Pope John Paul II in the Consistory of November 26, 1994. For more on Cardinal Peter Seiichi Shirayanagi, click on COLLEGE OF CARDINALS COLLECTION
 DAILY LITURGY
Today we commemorate the Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Wife, Mother and Religious while tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of Sts. Peter and Paul Basilicas in Rome   and Saint Rose Philippine Duchesne plus the 33rd Thursday in Ordinary Time. For the readings, liturgies, meditations, and vignettes on these feasts, click on DAILY LITURGY.
Joy cannot be manufactured
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"Lasting happiness can never come from the world. Joy is not derived from the things we get or the people we meet; it is manufactured by the soul itself, as it goes about its self-forgetful business."
October 25th Medjugorje Monthly Message
Dear children! Do not forget: this is a time of grace; that is why, pray, pray,
pray! Thank you for having responded to my call.
For more on Medjugorje, click on MEDJUGORJE AND MORE
Finally the long-awaited books "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..." and THE HIDDEN WAY are available!
 
With the messages completed, you can now order the book that contains ALL the messages. This much-anticipated 224-page book of ALL the messages to the world imparted to the Hidden Flower of the Immaculate Heart from the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a lasting gift that will inspire you in your faith, and all God asks of us. You can acquire your own handsome, coffee-table top copy of "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..." containing all 632 messages or the THE HIDDEN WAY containing 100 inspirational Meditative Lessons from Our Lord and Our Lady on Church Doctrine by clicking on "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..." or THE HIDDEN WAY or both books at BOOKS
To review past articles in textonly format, click on Archives.
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Today we feature the seven Sovereign Pontiffs from the first half of the eighth century which includes three saintly Popes in a row culminating with the death of Pope Saint Zachary in 752. For Installment twenty-seven The Agony and ecstasy of the Church after Pope Gregory the Great - part four: "The Apostolic Line of Peter during the first half of the eighth century" in the 
