Legio Sanctae Familiae

This article is available for download. You can download it and print it for private use and for private sharing but it cannot be reproduced in any other publication. To download a print copy click here – Divini Illius Magistri – Article 1 On 31st December, 1929, Pope Pius XI issued his encyclical letter ‘Divini Illius Magistri’ – ‘On Christian Education’. It is a great encyclical and contains much valuable information. There is a tendency nowadays within Catholic circles to … Read More

This article is available for download. You can download it and print it for private use and for private sharing but it cannot be reproduced in any other publication. To download a print copy click here – Catholic Duties 8 Pope Leo XIII, whilst acknowledging the autonomy of the secular State, now begins to turn his gaze upon the duties of the Catholic Church to resist the secular State whenever the State impinges upon the rights and duties of the … Read More

In my current presentation on the family which is part of my book launch, where I expose the tactics of the global organisations who seek to corrupt the innocence of children, I quote from Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical letter ‘Sapientiae Christianae’ on Christians as citizens. I came across this encyclical whilst reading another encyclical, that of Pope Pius XI on Christian Education – ‘Divini Illius Magistri’. Pope Pius XI quotes Pope Leo XIII concerning a particular point regarding the duties … Read More

War Against the Innocence of ChildrenThere is a global war being waged against the innocence of children. The primary aggressor is the devil but he uses willing human accomplices to carry out his plans to destroy the innocence of children. The devil hates the innocence of children because they remind him of how far he has fallen and of how much he has lost by rebelling against God. The devil’s pride blinds him and drives him on in his mistaken … Read More

Update 16/04/23: I have been contacted to suggest that Joe Biden may not have been invited to Knock Shrine but may have put it on the agenda himself. I have changed the wording below to reflect this i.e. “those who welcomed Joe Biden to Knock Shrine”. In one way this actually makes the situation worse because it suggests that the sacraments of the Catholic Church were suspended to accommodate the visit of a secular ruler who publicly defies Catholic Church … Read More

I hope to launch my first book, The Traditional Catholic Family, throughout Ireland beginning in Limerick on Tuesday 11th, April, 2023. The purpose of the book is to promote and defend Catholic Church teaching on marriage and family life with a view to helping Catholics understand both the importance and greatness of Catholic Marriage. Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Casti Connubii stated: “In order, however, that amongst men of every nation and every age the desired fruits may be … Read More

There were a few speed issues with the website of late and so the website has been updated to a new WordPress hosting package which should make it more responsive and a little faster. I will now continue to upload Dom Prosper Gueranger’s commentaries and prayers for the season of Advent. Thank you for your patience. May God bless you. John Lacken

No Confusion in the Catholic ChurchAs I begin this article I have just come from Northern Ireland where I hosted two talks. One in Omagh and the other in Derry. The talks were well attended, and we had a particularly lively question and answer session in Omagh. As I am fond of repeating, there is no confusion in the Catholic Church because her teachings are crystal clear, but there are many confused Catholics on account of the false prophets and … Read More

The Greatest Commandment“And one of them, a doctor of the law, asking him, tempting him: Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and … Read More

The Majesty of God“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5) The opening sentences of St John’s Gospel, beautifully and simply … Read More

This Bishop is in DenialThis week, I would like to thank those of you who have written to Bishop Raymond Browne, the Bishop of Kerry, regarding the promotion of the LGBT agenda to the youth of his diocese. I would also like to encourage more of you to get in contact with him. Bishop Browne has responded by saying; “Be assured that the diocese and I uphold fully the Church’s teaching on sexuality. We seek as best we can to … Read More

Those Who Promote Marriage will be AttackedI am conscious that I have been repeating Sr Lucia’s words to Cardinal Caffara regularly in my talks and in my articles. She said that “anyone who works for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be fought and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue.” I have begun lately to notice that we are indeed under attack. The attacks take on various forms. Some are personal in the … Read More

Great ConferenceIt was great to meet up with so many Catholic Voice readers at last Saturday’s conference in Limerick. For those who were unable to attend, I would like to give an extract from my talk in which we made a very important announcement for next year. Today, those who are leading the main attack on Catholic teaching on marriage and family life come from within the ranks of the Catholic church herself, with many senior prelates contradicting the constant … Read More

My 100th Article for Catholic VoiceToday marks another milestone in my journey with the Catholic Voice newspaper. This is my one hundredth article in Catholic Voice. A centenary of articles during the centenary of Fatima! What began as a simple question to Anthony Murphy, “would you be interested in some articles on marriage and family?”, with the reply, “send me in something and we’ll see”, has turned into a journey of faith exploration. In these turbulent times for the Catholic … Read More

Address to Fathers of FamiliesAt last year’s Catholic Voice conference in Limerick, I made the following address to fathers of families. I am not ignoring mothers, but fathers need to be given a wake-up call because the father is the spiritual and physical head of his family. Make Sure You Know What the Catholic Church Teaches“Fathers, make sure that you are fully conversant with what the Church teaches you about your role as Man, Husband and Father. Make sure that … Read More

The Light of FaithIf you pass by a house during the daytime, and a light happens to be left on in the front room, you will not notice it. Pass by the same house at night, and the same light will be noticeable from far away. The light has not gotten any brighter, but it shines even more clearly because of the surrounding darkness. I think the same is true of our Catholic faith, as the darkness of apostasy grows, … Read More

Filial CorrectionI begin writing this article having just read the “Filial Correction of Pope Francis For the Propagation of Heresies” which has been signed by 62 Catholic academics and pastors from 20 countries. The document begins “With profound grief, but moved by fidelity to our Lord Jesus Christ, by love for the Church…” These words “with profound grief” caused me to reflect on something I noticed some time ago. I have developed a custom whereby after attending Holy Mass in … Read More

Lack of Catechesis I have had some very interesting phone calls recently concerning marriage. One person asked me to write about annulment as there is a perception in some quarters that it is just a form of Catholic divorce. Another person has asked me to write about consent, or rather the lack of it, and the important need for priests to make sure that the proper consent is there, before a marriage takes place. Many years ago, this second person … Read More

Cardinal Schonborn’s ErrorsIn my last article, I spoke about a senior cardinal who recently visited Ireland and who erroneously, and contrary to Catholic Church teaching said, that it is possible to answer ‘Yes’ to the first of the five dubia that were submitted to Pope Francis by four other cardinals, one of whom, Cardinal Raymond Burke, is well known to Catholic Voice readers. Normally I do not name the personages concerned in these cases because I want to focus on … Read More

The Confused & Confusing Cardinal A recent headline in an Irish weekly newspaper stated “Children must be priority when marriages fail – top cardinal”. The article then went on to state “One of the Pope’s closest advisers on the family has insisted that when dealing with marital breakdown, the Church must put the needs of children ahead of a simplistic application of rules.” I have to say that I find this problematic, but first I also want to look at … Read More