Pope Francis’ Fraught Negotiations With the Cultural Left...
A recent visit by Pope Francis to Belgium illustrates the problems and perils in negotiating with the cultural left. Perhaps no one else has striven so well to reach out to those disaffected with the Church and her teachings. Pope Francis has done this “to a fault” according to many on the cultural right. But, setting aside those grievances, it remains true that...
How the New York Times Revealed a Puberty-Blocker Bombshell...
What we know about the Príncipi case, and why it’s a scandal...
One month after an extraordinary attempt from the pope’s chief of staff to reinstate a laicized sexual abuser, questions remain about who in the Vatican did what in the case of Alberto Ariel Príncipi. Despite those questions, the Holy See has offered no clear answers on why an order was issued by sostituto Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra which aimed to to restore the twice-convicted child abuser to the clerical state...
Father Radcliffe’s Synod Comments on Africa Echo Cardinal Kasper...
Just in time for the New York Yankees’ return to the World Series, the spirit of Yogi Berra is evident in Rome: It’s déjà vu all over again. A northern European cardinal is disparaging African bishops and then distancing himself from his own remarks. In 2014 it was Cardinal Walter Kasper. Ten years later, it is Cardinal-elect Timothy Radcliffe.
Can the Vatican-China deal move forward without looking back?
When I read this definition of ‘glory’ from St. Thomas Aquinas, it stopped me in my tracks...
Can the glory of the sun or the trees, or any bodily or non-personal good really be true glory? It is difficult to express what we might characterize as a moment of crisis, where what we see (and approve!) seems both to demand and show forth something behind it. A something that must be a someone...
We have to talk about the trend in the Church toward clustering parishes...
Something is going on in the Church in America, and other parts of the world, I’m sure, that seems at first glance to be primarily structural or administrative. What I’m referring to is the trend toward combining parishes into clusters or families in order to stretch our clergy after years of declining vocations. A business-person might suggest that the Church simply close enough parishes to make the numbers work...
Encyclical Letter ‘Dilexit Nos’ on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ...
“He loved us”, Saint Paul says of Christ, in order to make us realize that nothing can ever “separate us” from that love. Paul could say this with certainty because Jesus himself had told his disciples, “I have loved you”. Even now, the Lord says to us, “I have called you friends”. His open heart has gone before us and waits for us, unconditionally, asking only to offer us his love and friendship. For “he loved us first”. 1 Jn 4:10). Because of Jesus, “we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us”.
Meditation on a Roman Pizza...
Pizza in the Eternal City tends to exemplify a proposition I have long defended: What crossed the Atlantic going west was usually improved in the process. I like Roman pizza, as I like Rome, but I like New York pizza, Chicago pizza, Detroit pizza, and just about every other variant of American pizza — Hawaiian excepted — more. Still, when in Rome, do as the Romans. So in recent years...
Catholic hospitals must witness to the Truth...
JPII, the Synod and Stuff, and Little Eustace...
The Hillbilly Thomists and the Key to Culture...
‘Dilexit Nos’: Pope to Publish Encyclical This Thursday on Sacred Heart of Jesus...
The pitchforks are out for the German bishops after their ‘farmer-bashing’ study...
Vatican letter settles (and raises) questions about U.S. Mass obligation...
Vatican Cuts Monthly Pay for Catholic Cardinals in Rome by About 10%...
Does the Bible Say Whether There Are People in Hell?
Sacred Scripture does not tell us the names of any particular individuals who are in hell, but it repeatedly affirms that hell is real and people go there. Acts 24:15, for example, reminds us that “there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.” In 2 Thessalonians 1:9, St. Paul warns about those...
‘Radium Girls’: Radiation Poisoning Destroyed Her Body, But God Sustained Her Heart...
This is the story of a woman who, in the midst of unimaginable suffering, persevered in her Catholic faith. Catherine Wolfe Donohue’s suffering began in her childhood. She was born in Ottawa, Illinois, in 1903. When Catherine was about 6 years old, her mother died. A few years later, her father also died, and Catherine went to live with her aunt and uncle. When Catherine was 14, her older brother passed away.
This Sunday, 7 Takeaways From the Healing of the Blind Beggar Bartimaeus...
Jesus encounters the blind beggar on the Jericho Road. He is nearing the end of his journey to Jerusalem, a journey that he stays resolutely on, though it leads to his death. The incident described here comes from a famous stretch of road; in fact, it is the road that Jesus’s Good Samaritan parable takes place on. It’s a notorious stretch of road where one would expect to find bandits and rough characters.
‘Dilexit nos’: A brief guide for busy readers...
Pope Francis published the fourth encyclical of his so far 11-year pontificate Thursday. The 141-page, 28,000-word Dilexit nos (“He loved us”) follows 2013’s Lumen fidei (co-written with Benedict XVI), 2015’s Laudato si’, and 2020’s Fratelli tutti. The new encyclical’s incipit, or opening phrase, is drawn from Romans 8:37, in which St. Paul says Christians can overcome every adversity...
Why actor Sir Anthony Hopkins called California’s Thomas Aquinas College one of the ‘most beautiful places’ he had ever seen...
Greetings from Wichita, Kansas, where I am in town — as I frequently am — to visit family and to be tempted into buying stacks of books (and icons) at the amazing Eighth Day Books. This time around, I am one of the speakers at the 10th annual Inklings Festival at the Eighth Day Institute. The title of my talk: “The Scariest Five Chapters in the Work of C. S. Lewis.” Anyone want to guess...
Phyllis Zagano Damages Her Own Argument for Female Deacons...
Phyllis Zagano is well-known as one of the biggest advocates for female deacons in the Catholic Church. However, she has shown a lack of understanding the concept of Imago Dei (Image of God) in a way that really harms her argument. If she makes a mistake here, it undermines here argument for female deacons. This piece will note Church teaching on the Image of God, point out Zagano’s error, and note another issue she had with fundamental theology principles.
As Synod’s End Nears, Progressives Brace for Disappointment — And Blame Organizers...
For progressive Catholics hoping for dramatic changes in the Church, the Synod on Synodality was supposed to usher in a new springtime. Instead, with the final document set to be approved this Saturday, those who have advocated for things like women deacons and the acceptance of same-sex relations are bracing for a “final cold shower.” That’s the image used by Vatican journalist...
Persecution of 10 Catholic Bishops in China Intensified After Vatican-China Deal, Report Says...
Gustavo Gutiérrez, Peruvian Dominican Priest and ‘Father of Liberation Theology,’ Dies at 96...
Anti-Catholic Bias Aside, ‘Conclave’ Is Just Plain Bad...
Vatican-China Bishop Deal Renewed for Four More Years...
Let’s talk about Arminianism from a Catholic perspective...
Pope Francis Canonizes 14 New Saints, Including 11 ‘Martyrs of Damascus’...
The Reformation is over. Come home...
If ‘The Wild Robot’ is not a perfect movie, it’s the best kind of mostly perfect movie...
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