Does Leo XIV use archdioceses as dumping grounds for unwanted Vatican officials? Italian priest Filippo Di Giacomo criticises the appointment of Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto. Chieti-Vasto is a historically significant episcopal see in central and southern Italy. Di Giacomo suggests that Leo XIV instrumentalised the Archdiocese to get Gambetti out of the Roman Curia. Di Giacomo also reports an unconfirmed claim that Gambetti accepted the transfer only after being promised an auxiliary bishop. Gambetti reportedly intends to retain other “commitments”. If true, the archdiocese could end up with an archbishop whose attention is elsewhere. Di Giacomo warns that the same misfortune may await the Archdiocese of Pescara-Penne, with the likely arrival of another “castoff from the Roman Curia.”
FILIPPO DI GIACOMO: “IL 3 OTTOBRE IL CARDINALE MAURO GAMBETTI È DIVENTATO ARCIVESCOVO DI CHIETI-VASTO” – “SENZA NESSUN GIUDIZIO SULL'ESERCIZIO DELL'ENORME POTERE AVUTO DA GAMBETTI, PERCHÉ UN'ARCIDIOCESI IMPORTANTE E GRANDE COME QUELLA DI CHIETI-VASTO DEVE RICEVERE UN PASTORE (E NON È LA PRIMA VOLTA) DISTANTE DALLE SENSIBILITÀ LOCALI E NOMINATO SOLO PER RISOLVERE UNO SQUILIBRIO NELLA CURIA ROMANA?”
“Zelensky has found some suckers who give him all the billions he asks for, so he just keeps on asking for more,” the MEP said in a video on social media on Friday. He argued that Zelensky’s demands have continued to mount, citing Kiev’s alleged budget shortfalls of €27 billion in 2026 and €32 billion in 2027, followed by a fresh €70 billion demand on top of the €90 billion loan approved in April.
" Everything that He said was said primarily, and in particular, to the disciples, but referred in general to the whole present and future, to those, that is to say, who should come after. He said * I will go and will return to you;' and so it was, for, when the Holy Spirit returned upon the disciples, He also returned, as I told you above, for the Holy Spirit did not return alone, but came with My power, and the wisdom of the Son, who is one thing with Me..."
‘How the soul, after having mounted the first step…’ ~ 'The Dialogue' of Saint Catherine of Siena; 1907; A TREATISE OF DISCRETION; pp. 152; part II [Saint Catherine of Siena /Caterina di Benincasa/; XIV-XV Century AD; born: Siena, Republic of Siena/died: Rome, Papal States; aged 33; Spiritual Writer; Mystic; Virgin; Doctor of the Church] How the soul, after having mounted the first step of the Bridge, should proceed to mount the second. But when they had persevered in fasting and in humble and continual prayer, until they had received the abundance of the Holy Spirit, they lost their fear, and followed and preached Christ crucified. So also the soul, who wishes to arrive at this perfection, after she has risen from the guilt of mortal sin, recognising it for what it is, begins to weep from fear of the penalty, whence she rises to the consideration of My mercy, in which contemplation, she finds her own pleasure and profit. This is an imperfect state, and I, in order to develop perfection …More
US Bishop bans St. Michael prayer after Mass. Bishop Mark Beckman of Knoxville, Tennessee, has directed priests to discontinue the communal recitation of the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel immediately before or after Mass. In his October 16 article, he claims that in order to celebrate the liturgy “in accordance with the mind of the Church” priests need to “catechize the people of God as we move away from additional prayers recited together immediately before, during, and immediately after Mass.” Additional prayers - including those to St. Michael, St. Francis, and the Holy Spirit - should not become regular additions to the celebration of Mass. He cited the Second Vatican Council's call for a liturgy marked by “noble simplicity.” #newsIisjgbwbuz
But at that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people: and a time shall come such as never was from the time that nations began even until that time. And at that time shall thy people be saved, every one that shall be found written in the book. 2And many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth, shall awake: some unto life everlasting, and others unto reproach, to see it always. 3But they that are learned shall shine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity. 4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time appointed: many shall pass over, and knowledge shall be manifold.
Well staged: Pope Leo XIV greeted a young Ukrainian cancer survivor, who told him: “You too will overcome this and continue your work of spreading the Gospel.” The Holy Father first met Varvara, a 13-year-old Ukrainian refugee on December 31, 2025, at the conclusion of his General Audience, as she awaited surgery for cancer. She told the Pope that their hug in December had given her “the strength to overcome the illness that, fortunately, I have now beaten.” She told him that, as soon as she learned he had been hospitalized, she felt she “wanted to come to Rome to pray for him beneath his window and return that important embrace."
The Unitive Trap: How Modern Personalism Denies Original Sin in the Mariage Bed For two millennia, the Catholic Church stood as an unyielding fortress against the chaotic currents of carnal indulgence. Guided by the crystalline logic of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the sobering pastoral wisdom of Saint Augustine, Christian tradition understood precisely what the marital act was: a raw, biological reality ordered strictly to the procreation of immortal souls, protected by the legal bond of marital fidelity. Today, however, that fortress has been quietly hollowed out from within. Under the guise of a mid-century theological update, the contemporary Church has largely adopted the vocabulary of the 1960’s “sexual revolution,” baptizing the secular world’s obsession with "making love" by masking it in the language of "personalism" and the "unitive meaning" of the marriage bed. By elevating the highly subjective, emotional concept of the "unitive end" to a co-equal status with procreation, modern …More
"murky, sentimental personalism" -might this be a reason for the entrenchment of abortion. IE it's wrong because "it hurts women" and "women are the second victim"
REVELATIONS OF ST. BRIDGET, 1 Book, 26 chapter ... But people in this age are joined in marriage for seven reasons: First, because of facial beauty. Second, because of wealth. Third, because of the despicable pleasure and indecent joy they get out of their impure intercourse. Fourth, because of feasts with friends and uncontrolled gluttony. Fifth, because of vanity in clothing and eating, in joking and entertainment and games and other vanities. Sixth, for the sake of procreating children but not to raise them for the honor of God or good works but for worldly riches and honor. Seventh, they come together for the sake of lust and they are like brute beasts in their lustful desires. They come to the doors of my church with one mind and consent, but all their desires and inner thoughts are completely against me. They prefer their own will, which aims at pleasing the world, instead of my will. If all their thoughts and wishes were directed toward me, and if they entrusted their will into …More
Bebo’s FriendsIsraeli journalist and political analyst Amit Segal from Channel 12 talking about Trump's "Board of Peace" and the "ceasefire" in Gaza: All this for the sake of Gaza… one-tonne MK84 missiles. This marks the beginning of efforts to bolster Gaza’s military capabilities in 2023. This consignment arrived swiftly in Israel from a US base in an Arab country that the Palestinians regard as a sister nation. The shipment crossed the Arabian Gulf, passed through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and arrived at the port of Ashdod.
Meanwhile in Russia. Funny thing someone said that Russia looks just like North Korea. Anyone see that in those pictures? People dancing at sunset in Gorgy Park. People lounging near the river. People strolling. And a peaceful walk and flowers everywhere in Russia.
God’s Servants Feast: October 17 John the Dwarf John the Dwarf is best known for his obedience. The most famous story about his obedience is that one day Saint Pambo gave Abba John a piece of dry wood and ordered him to plant and water it. John obeyed and went on watering it twice a day even though the water was about 12 miles from where they lived. After three years, the piece of wood sprouted and grew into a fruitful tree. Pambo took some of this tree's fruits and went around to all the elder monks, saying "take, eat from the fruit of obedience". Postumian, who was in Egypt in 402, assured that he was shown this tree which grew in the yard of the monastery and which he saw covered with shoots and green leaves. Ababius was a monk of Scetes and is a saint of the Coptic Church. He is the subject of a long biography attributed in manuscript form to John the Dwarf. The manuscript has yet to be translated into English.
St John the short. God’s Servants Feast: October 17 John the Dwarf is best known for his obedience. The most famous story about his obedience is that one day Saint Pambo gave Abba John a piece of dry wood and ordered him to plant and water it. John obeyed and went on watering it twice a day even though the water was about 12 miles from where they lived. After three years, the piece of wood sprouted and grew into a fruitful tree. Pambo took some of this tree's fruits and went around to all the elder monks, saying "take, eat from the fruit of obedience". Postumian, who was in Egypt in 402, assured that he was shown this tree which grew in the yard of the monastery and which he saw covered with shoots and green leaves. Ababius was a monk of Scetes and is a saint of the Coptic Church. He is the subject of a long biography attributed in manuscript form to John the Dwarf. The manuscript has yet to be translated into English.
Lazarus Peter Kalamation.com Saint John the Short Also known as John Colobus John Kolobos John the Little John the Dwarf Yoannis Pi Kolobos Memorial 17 October Profile Born to a poor but pious family. From age 18, he lived in an underground cave he dug in the desert of Skete. Spiritual student of Saint Poemen and Saint Ammoes. Noted for being short of stature, short of temper, and conceited by nature; he did not grow in height, but as his faith increased, so did his gentleness and humility. In later life he was known for absent-mindedness, his thoughts being on the spiritual life. As a test of his new humble obedience, his director ordered him to water a walking staff stuck in the sand; John did so. It later blossomed, and John referred to it as the “tree of obedience”. To escape Berber invaders around 395, he fled Skete and lived for years as a hermit on Mount Queolzum, near the current city of Suez. Spiritual teacher of SaintArsenius. Born c.339 at Basta, Egypt Died at Mount …More
Bebo’s FriendsStudent protestors in Albania destroy surveillance cameras that they accuse of being controlled by "Israeli spyware" companies. They are demanding better conditions for the young and opposing the Kushner class take over of their country.
Dropping MOAB on Iran would invite all-out retaliation across the Gulf – academic Iran’s retaliation to the US dropping the "Mother of all bombs" (MOAB) on it would be aimed at any US-linked targets in the region, Prof. Mohammad Marandi, former adviser to the Iranian nuclear negotiations team, said on Judge Napolitano’s podcast. “It goes beyond just oil and gas infrastructure, it means everything that is somehow linked to the United States, whether it’s data centers or banks or anything that is of any value,” he elaborated. Marandi also pointed out that the US previously dropped a MOAB on Afghanistan, but it did not help them win the war there. geopolitics_prime
Prof. Margaritora, the surgeon who led the team that operated on the Pope, explains to Vatican media how the tumor was discovered and the timeline for his recovery, and says there are no clinical reasons preventing the trip to South America
Israeli journalist and political analyst Amit Segal from Channel 12 talking about Trump's "Board of Peace" and the "ceasefire" in Gaza:
Student protestors in Albania destroy surveillance cameras that they accuse of being controlled by "Israeli spyware" companies.
Dropping MOAB on Iran would invite all-out retaliation across the Gulf – academicClassé monument historique, le bâtiment existait depuis 150 ans (1876)
