Institute of Catholic Culture

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

Can bitter enemies ever be reconciled? What is the true root of conflict between Palestinians and Jews? What behind-the-scenes politics touched off the turmoil in the Middle East? Listen to Archbishop Elias Chacour as he tells his life story growing up as a Palestinian Christian and his lifelong quest for peace among all God’s people.This lecture was given at two different times and locations. The resources are listed as such.

"Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all who would be converted to Him. Noah preached repentance, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; but they, repenting of their sins, propitiated God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens [to the covenant] of God.”- First Epistle of Pope St. Clement to the Corinthians

"Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all who would be converted to Him. Noah preached repentance, and as many as listened to him were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; but they, repenting of their sins, propitiated God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens [to the covenant] of God.”- First Epistle of Pope St. Clement to the Corinthians

“Christ is the Light of nations. Because this is so, this Sacred Synod gathered together in the Holy Spirit eagerly desires, by proclaiming the Gospel to every creature, to bring the light of Christ to all men, a light brightly visible on the countenance of the Church.”- Lumen Gentium

"Nobis quoque peccatoribus, famulis tuis, de multitudine miserationum tuarum sperantibus, partem aliquam et societatem donare digneris, cum tuis sanctis Apostolis et Martyribus: cum Ioanne, Stephano, Matthia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellino, Petro, Felicitate, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnete, Caecilia, Anastasia et omnibus Sanctis tuis: intra quorum nos consortium, non aestimator meriti, sed veniae, quaesumus, largitor admitte. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen."

“Behold, my brother, we have shared the same destiny, ploughing the same furrow; I now fall in the field at the end of my day. I know that you greatly love your Mountain; but do not for the sake of the Mountain give up your work of teaching.”- St. Cyril, Monk (on his deathbed) to St. Methodius, Bishop

"Nobis quoque peccatoribus, famulis tuis, de multitudine miserationum tuarum sperantibus, partem aliquam et societatem donare digneris, cum tuis sanctis Apostolis et Martyribus: cum Ioanne, Stephano, Matthia, Barnaba, Ignatio, Alexandro, Marcellino, Petro, Felicitate, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucia, Agnete, Caecilia, Anastasia et omnibus Sanctis tuis: intra quorum nos consortium, non aestimator meriti, sed veniae, quaesumus, largitor admitte. Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen."

“Behold, my brother, we have shared the same destiny, ploughing the same furrow; I now fall in the field at the end of my day. I know that you greatly love your Mountain; but do not for the sake of the Mountain give up your work of teaching.”- St. Cyril, Monk (on his deathbed) to St. Methodius, Bishop

"Wherefore our wills also have just so much power as God willed and foreknew that they should have; and therefore whatever power they have, they have it within most certain limits; and whatever they are to do, they are most assuredly to do, for He whose foreknowledge is infallible foreknew that they would have the power to do it, and would do it."- St. Augustine, City of God V.10

"When man comes into contact with God, mere speech is not enough. Areas of his existence are awakened that spontaneously turn into song. Indeed, man’s own being is insufficient for what he has to express, and so he invites the whole of creation to become a song with him: 'Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds' (Psalm 57:8f)."- Pope Benedict XVI

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

"On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wine on the lees well refined."- Isaiah 25:6

“In the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”- Galatians 4:4-5

“Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, and said, ‘If it please the king, and if I have favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king’s provinces: For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? Or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?’ Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, ‘Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.’”- Esther 8

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

“The Church does not live on herself but on the Gospel, and in the Gospel always and ever anew finds the directions for her journey. This is a point that every Christian must understand and apply to himself or herself: only those who first listen to the Word can become preachers of it.”- Pope Benedict XVI

“The Church does not live on herself but on the Gospel, and in the Gospel always and ever anew finds the directions for her journey. This is a point that every Christian must understand and apply to himself or herself: only those who first listen to the Word can become preachers of it.”- Pope Benedict XVI

“Where perception is, there also are pain and pleasure, and where these are, there, of necessity, is desire.”- Aristotle

“The Church does not live on herself but on the Gospel, and in the Gospel always and ever anew finds the directions for her journey. This is a point that every Christian must understand and apply to himself or herself: only those who first listen to the Word can become preachers of it.”- Pope Benedict XVI

"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or not.'”- Exodus 16:4

"We announce to you the eternal life which dwelt with the Father and was made visible to us. What we have seen and heard we announce to you, so that you may have fellowship with us and our common fellowship be with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.”- 1 John 1:2-3

“Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” - St. Jerome

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

"We announce to you the eternal life which dwelt with the Father and was made visible to us. What we have seen and heard we announce to you, so that you may have fellowship with us and our common fellowship be with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ.”- 1 John 1:2-3

"Christians should not be surprised to find themselves part of a culture that, in many ways, is contrary to the Gospel and repellent to Christian virtue. It was the same in the time of Saint Paul and in some sense, for every generation of believers. But Christians of every generation are called to live in conformity with the truth of Jesus Christ and to stand apart from those aspects of culture which are contrary to this truth."- Bishop Paul S. Loverde, Bought with a Price

"The development of culture imposes on those who carry out the ministry of the Word, at various levels, to be well prepared. Hence I exhort all, pastors and laity, to cultivate this 'cultural dimension' of faith, so that the beauty of the Christian truth can be better understood and faith can be truly nourished, reinforced, and also defended."- Pope Benedict XVI

“Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it—made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.”- C.S. Lewis

“Amid the modern stirrings of opinion, a tendency has also been manifested, and even a desire expressed, to ask the Church to re-examine [priestly celibacy]. It is said that in the world of our time the observance of celibacy has come to be difficult or even impossible.”- Pope Paul VI, Sacerdotalis Caelibatus

“Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it—made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.”- C.S. Lewis

“We must reappropriate the contents of the faith, not as a packet of dogmas and commandments, but as a unique reality revealed in all its profoundness and beauty.”- Pope Benedict XVI

At the center of the battle for Catholic Spain during the Spanish Civil War is the story of the fortress of Alcázar, controlled by the Catholic Colonel José Moscardó. When the communist forces captured the Colonel’s son, Luis Moscardó, they called the Colonel by telephone and warned that if he did not surrender the fortress within ten minutes, they would shoot his son. To prove that they had the boy, they placed him on the telephone with his father. “What is happening, my son?” asked the Colonel. “Nothing,” answered Luis, “They say they will shoot me if the Alcázar does not surrender.” “If this is true,” replied Moscardó, “then commend your soul to God, shout 'Viva España,' and die like a hero. Goodbye, my son.” “That I can do,” answered Luis, “Goodbye, my father.” The communist general who had captured Luis returned to the telephone, and Moscardó told him, “The Alcázar will never surrender!”

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

"Never separate artistic creativity from truth and charity, never seek beauty distant from truth and charity, but with your genius and creative drive always seek courageously after truth and bear witness to charity. Make the truth shine forth in your works, ensuring that their beauty arouses in the eyes and hearts of the people who admire them the desire and the need to make life, each individual life, more beautiful and true, enriching it with that treasure which never runs out, which makes life a masterpiece and each man an extraordinary artist: charity, love. May the Holy Spirit, architect of all that is beautiful in the world, illuminate you and guide you towards the definitive and ultimate Beauty."- Pope Benedict XVI

“There is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.”- 1 Timothy 2:5

“There is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.”- 1 Timothy 2:5

“Thou, Lord, in Whose hands is the rule of the kingdom, Who has put me by Thy Providence into royal estate, I beg humbly to hear now the prayer of Thy servant, and show forth the truth, and manifest Thy will with Thy marvelous works.”- Prayer of Queen Isabella of Castile, 1475

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

“Thou shalt not make for thyself a graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is in the heaven above, or in the earth beneath.”- Exodus 20:4

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.

The Institute of Catholic Culture is an adult educational organization, faithful to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, and dedicated to the Church’s call for a new evangelization.