(Photo © Scott P. Richert)

There weren't a lot of guesses in last week's Wordless Wednesday contest. Honors go to the About.com Guide to Sikhism, Sukhmandir Kaur, for identifying the most symbols, and to Rob for figuring out why I posted the image of Saint Philip in November, rather than May. One minor correction: Rob said that Saint Philip's feast day is November 14 "in the Orthodox faith," which is correct; but it's also November 14 in the calendars of the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church, which celebrate, along with the Orthodox, Philip's Fast between that day and Christmas.

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"What does it mean to be a Catholic?"

With those eight words, Thomas J. Tobin, the bishop of Rhode Island, summed up his recent dispute with Patrick J. Kennedy, a Democratic congressman from Rhode Island and a member of Bishop Tobin's flock. Kennedy's father, the longtime Democratic senator from Massachusetts, was, until his death earlier this year, the most prominent Catholic supporter of abortion in the United States. Senator Kennedy sowed great confusion among American Catholics regarding abortion, and his son seems determined to follow in his footsteps.

Bishop Tobin's question came in response to the public claim of Kennedy that "The fact that I disagree with the hierarchy on some issues does not make me any less of a Catholic." In an open letter to Congressman Kennedy, published in his diocesan newspaper, the Rhode Island Catholic, Bishop Tobin patiently explains the substance of the Faith and the demands that it makes on all believers—especially those whose dissent from the teachings of the Church can lead others into similar error. Read more...

On October 20, 2009, when the Vatican announced Pope Benedict's overtures to disaffected Anglicans, I predicted "The End of the Anglican Communion." It's not that the Anglican Church will simply disappear or be absorbed into the Catholic Church; rather, "Those who remain in the Anglican Communion will continue to move further away from orthodoxy." Moreover, as I argued:

Despite the attempt to put a good face on the matter, today's announcement makes it clear that the ecumenical dialogue of the past 40 years has failed. At every turn, the Anglican Communion as a whole has moved away from Rome, not toward her.

If we needed any further evidence, the Holy Father's audience with Rowan Williams on Saturday has provided it. Read more...

St. Francis Xavier, the cofounder of the Jesuits, is known as the Apostle of the East for his missionary activities in India and other Oriental countries. In preparation for his feast day (December 3), I have chosen the Miraculous Novena of Grace as our novena this week.

While the words of the prayer do not come from Saint Francis, the idea for the novena does. Eighty-one years after his death, Saint Francis appeared to a dying Jesuit priest and promised his protection to anyone who would pray this novena and go to Confession and receive Communion at least once during the nine days. It's a wonderful way to prepare ourselves for the start of Advent.