Paul Pastora🇺🇲

Pope Leo baptized 10 adults from around the world into the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil Mass at the Vatican. Video: Vatican Media

Pope Leo's Easter message: "Let those who have weapons lay them down! Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace! Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue! Not with the desire to dominate others, but to encounter them!"

Pope Leo XIV became only the second pope to carry the Cross throughout the entire Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum on Good Friday. Video: Vatican Media

He's always teary when he's so happy🥺❤️. One of the things i love so much about Pope LeoXIV is how he is not afraid or shy to show his emotions. He makes you proud to be a Catholic.

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭: 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦🇻🇦 We do good works to live out the grace we have received through faith. We do 𝐍𝐎𝐓 do good works to earn grace. Grace comes first, and good works follow. Good works do 𝐍𝐎𝐓 cause grace, create grace, or trigger grace. Good works are 𝐍𝐎𝐓 the first cause. They flow from the grace God freely gives. This teaching opposes Pelagianism, which falsely claims that humans can achieve salvation or earn grace by their own effort. Pelagianism was condemned by the 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝟒𝟏𝟖, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐙𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝟒𝟏𝟗, 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐢𝐦. “𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.” (𝐄𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟐:𝟏𝟎) Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2007: “God’s free initiative demands man’s free response. This response is realized in acts of faith and love called ‘good works.’ The grace of Christ is never opposed to the human will. On the contrary, it supposes it, and heals it, and perfects it.” Salvation is a gift, but it calls for a response. Even 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬, “𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞, 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬” (𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟓). 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐝𝐨 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 📖

Baptised Catholics who walk away from the true Church often claim they have “seen the light.” But let’s be clear, that is not the light. No failure of a priest. No scandal of a bishop. Not even the weakness of a Pope is ever a justification to abandon the Catholic Church. The truth is this: you don’t leave Christ because of Judas. The Catholic Church is not built on the perfection of men. it is built on Christ Himself and sustained by the Eucharist. Those who truly understand and value the Eucharist do not walk away from it. Call it what it is, not “seeing the light,” but turning away from it. Leaving the Catholic Church is synonymous with turning away from the Light.

Happy Easter to everyone celebrating in London. Amid the festivities, let’s remember the message of hope at its heart. No matter the challenges we face, there is always light on the horizon. Thank you to our Christian communities for helping build a kinder city.

I am now Catholic.

Often, the proclamation of truth is obscured by what we today call “fake news” — lies, insinuations, and unfounded accusations. Yet, in the face of such obstacles, the truth does not remain hidden; rather, it comes forth to meet us, living and radiant, illuminating even the deepest darkness.

Trump needs to delete this immediately and apologize. I don’t care about the F-bomb, but praising a false god on our most sacred day of our risen Christ is unacceptable.

Thousands of people became Catholic across the United States at the Easter vigil Mobile archdiocese – 603 Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau -200 Diocese of Phoenix – 1600 Diocese Tucson -530 Los angeles=- 8598 Youngstown 300 San Francisco - 700  Duluth 186 Atlanta – 3442 Washington 1755 Lansing – 940 Oklahoma- 1100 Tulsa – 1000 Cleveland – 1000 Orlando -900 Venice – 1072 St Augustine – 1263 Newark – 1701 Kansas City 733 Fort Wayne 787 San diego- 1846 Fort Worth 1550 St Louis – 1000 Richmond- 900 Wichita – 600 Portland – 1600 Nashville -872 Brooklyn – 1200 Cincinatti – 1096 Chicago -1000 Dallas – 2500 Galveston – 3000 Baltomore – 1200 Omaha – 700 Philadelphia -1100 New Orleans – 700 Detroit – 1400 Denver – 770 Shreveport- 257 Duluth – 186 Madison – 360 Greenbay – 175 Milwaukee – 270