I have left the Church many times, but now I can say with certainty that I will remain with the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church for the rest of my life.

On the day of a priest’s ordination, he receives from his bishop the most important tool of his ministry: the chalice. 

What is your memory of the time you received your first Holy Communion? 

A push from his big brother has sent Danny Luong on a path that, eight years later, has become a huge part of his life.

Pope Pius X died on Aug. 20, 1914, just as the First World War was breaking out across Europe. Born in a small Italian village in 1835, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto rose through the Church ranks and was elected pope in 1903. During his 11-year reign, he was conservative when it came to Church doctrine, but was also known for reforming Church hierarchy and for his devotion to the Eucharist. He was canonized in 1954. Upon his death, Register editor Fr. A. E. Burke (right) penned the obituary in the newspaper, then known as The Catholic Register and Canadian Extension. In an excerpt from that story appearing Aug. 27, 1914, Burke reported on the Pope’s final moments and recounts a meeting he once had with him:

---

Canon law prescribes that Mass be celebrated in a “sacred place” such as a church or a chapel consecrated by a bishop. That is why, for example, there are strict rules forbidding the celebration of wedding Masses at locations such as a beach or garden patio. 

JINOTEGA, Nicaragua – Two churches in the Diocese of Jinotega in northern Nicaragua have been desecrated in the past week, amid rising tensions between the Church and the government of president Daniel Ortega.

Last month Pope Francis had Catholics worldwide scratching their heads after he seemed to suggest German bishops would have his blessing if they reached a group consensus to circumvent Church teaching and make it easier for some Protestants to receive Communion.

VATICAN – One month after Vatican and German delegates met in Rome to discuss a proposal put forward by German bishops to allow Protestant spouses in inter-denominational marriages to receive the Eucharist in certain circumstances, Pope Francis has rejected it.

ROME – As he did with his disciples at Passover, Jesus asks all Christians to prepare a place for him, not in "exclusive, selective places" but rather in uncomfortable places that are "untouched by love, untouched by hope," Pope Francis said.

BUCKFASTLEIGH, England – Holy Communion is exclusively for Catholics in a state of grace and not something to be shared between friends like beer or cake, said a former senior adviser to two popes.

VATICAN – Catholics who participate in the World Meeting of Families in Dublin in August or pray with their families during the Aug. 21-26 event can receive a plenary indulgence, the Vatican announced.

Even a consensus among German Catholic bishops allowing intercommunion with Protestants cannot change Catholic teaching, says a Canadian archbishop.

VATICAN – Pope Francis asked the bishops of Germany to continue working together to find broader consensus on guidelines for allowing a Protestant married to a Catholic to receive the Eucharist.

OTTAWA – The long-running debate over Pope Francis’ views on marriage and the family will eventually result in a more unified Church, says a prominent Catholic author.