there is the Church
I’ve watched the video of Pope Francis slapping–in something of the manner of a YMCA self-defense class; his movements are a standard way in martial arts to break an unwanted grip on one’s arm–a young Asian woman in St. Peter’s Square numerous times now, trying to work out what the woman is saying to him. I recognized the language immediately as Japanese, a language in which I majored in college and which I can still...
In his New Year’s Day homily, Pope Francis denounced violence against women as a “blasphemy against God, who was born of a woman.” CNN immediately tried to capitalize on this for sensationalistic purposes, by tying his speech to the incident the previous day, when he slapped the hand of a woman who yanked his arm violently in order to release himself from her grip. I admit I was pleasantly surprised, not by the tweet, but...
Today is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God: one of the holy days of obligation of the Christmas Octave and the first day of the New Year of 2020! So what better way for a Catholic to celebrate and cheer, than to badmouth the Pope? Yes, unfortunately, yesterday and today, Catholic social media has been boiling with a viral video of Pope Francis slapping the hand of a woman. The...
Tuesday afternoon, the diocese of Peoria, IL, issued a press release that shook the US Catholic Church. In it, Bishop Daniel Jenky announced that the long-anticipated beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, scheduled for December 21, would be postponed indefinitely. After years of tug-of-war between Peoria and the Archdiocese of New York over the relocation of Sheen’s body from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan to a new shrine in Peoria dedicated to Sheen, this last-minute...
As a Catholic in a small Ohio diocese, it is always interesting when our local Church shows up in the national news. This week, my bishop—the Bishop of Youngstown, Ohio—George Murry was elected as the chairman of the USCCB Committee on Religious Liberty. As such, he’ll be tasked with building up American Catholics’ understanding and defense of religious liberty. He’ll also be overseeing the work of empowering local bishops to improve their outreach on the...
Happy Trinity Sunday, and Happy Father’s day! Today Pope Francis visited the city of Camerino in Italy, which was struck by earthquakes 3 years ago that took the lives of nearly 300 people. Vatican News reports that in his homily, he spoke about healing woulds and rebuilding after such a tragic event: “Remembering is a key word for life”, said Pope Francis. “Remembering gives us the strength not to surrender”. The Pope admitted that bad...
“Hypocrites, well hath Isaias prophesied of you, saying: This people honoureth me with their lips: but their heart is far from me. And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and commandments of men” — Mt 15:7-9 (DRV) As Mike Lewis noted yesterday, during a pilgrimage to Loreto, Pope Francis made a beautiful address about the significance of family, based on the traditional understanding of marriage as a union between a man and a...
Greg Daily provides us with a fresh historical perspective on the Amoris Laetitia controversy. Dissenters may claim to defend the tímeles Catholic view on marriage, but Trent actually introduced novelties that were resisted at first by some of the concilliary Cardinals. However, even these eventually obeyed, out of respect for the Pope. Papal critics have been attacking Pope Francis for not allowing the USCCB to vote on measures on the abuse scandal. They claim it’s inconsistent with...
On Saturday, September 22, a long-anticipated “provisional agreement” between the Chinese government and the Vatican was announced regarding the process of appointing bishops in the Catholic Church in China. Officially, this agreement puts an end to the decades-long division between Chinese Catholics who worship in state-sanctioned churches whose bishops are appointed by the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPCA), and the “underground” Church whose bishops have Vatican approval. In reality, the situation is much more complex....
Some Catholics disagree with much of what Pope Francis says and does — this is undeniable. Believe it or not, I don’t think there is anything intrinsically wrong with criticizing a pope on prudential matters, at least when done thoughtfully and when consideration is given to the context and circumstances around the pope’s decision or action. In recent months, however, I have noticed that some papal critics appear to respond immediately to anything he says...
Two important stories broke on Saturday night (or Sunday morning, depending on where you are), and journalists and commentators around the globe have weighed in from all angles. There’s the story, and then there’s the story of the story. The first story is the most readily obvious: an 11-page “Testimony,” authored by retired Archbishop and former US Nuncio Carlo Maria Viganò, was released on the eve of the closing Mass for the World Meeting of...
The following is a translation of an article from Die Tagespost. The original article can be found here. The private secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict denies reports which claim that Benedict confirmed the reports of former Vatican diplomat Vigano. The claim that the former pope confirmed the reports is devoid of any truth and has no basis in reality. Archbishop Georg Gänswein, private secretary of Benedict XVI, has rejected the claim that the former pope...
Ever since he burst onto the the scene in January 2017 with a 5000-word essay in La Stampa entitled “Amoris Laetitia: Where Truth and Mercy Embrace,” Catholic writer Stephen Walford has found himself at the center of the often heated debate in the Church over Pope Francis and his teachings. Coming on the heels of the publication of five questions (or dubia) from four cardinals who have openly challenged the orthodoxy and authority of the...
The Holy See has published a new document, Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago, addressed to bishops outlining instructions on the Order of Consecrated Virgins within their dioceses. This Instruction was put forward to answer questions being asked by many women and bishops across the world concerning the Order and how it ought to operate. An innocuous enough topic, affecting a small though invaluable minority in the Church, this has nevertheless (and, by now, predictably) become a target...
Here are some of the important stories we’re following this week: 1. The Cardinal McCarrick scandal has gotten even worse. Yesterday the New York Times reported that a 60-year-old man came forward to describe the sexual abuse he suffered from McCarrick, beginning when he was 11 and continuing into his young adulthood. This man was the first baby baptized by a newly-ordained Father McCarrick in 1958. The man’s sister recounts: It was explained to us...
In last June 28th, António Marto, the Portuguese bishop of Leiria-Fatima, was made cardinal. This is a validation of his ministry, since António Marto has been said to be supportive of the Pope’s approach, namely by adopting a merciful demeanor toward sinners and an attitude of closeness to ordinary people. It is also interesting to note that this diocese encompasses none other than the Sanctuary of Fatima: a hub of sanctity, a treasure for the Catholic Church and,...
On June 28, I posted about the recent revelations of credible and substantiated abuse accusations against Cardinal McCarrick by a former teenage altar boy. I also discussed Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s revelation that there have been three past accusations directed at McCarrick by adults in New Jersey, and two had been settled out of court. At the time, I also mentioned that “over the last week an increasing number of sordid stories about his sexual harassment...
On Feb 6th this year, Manuel Clemente, the Cardinal-Patriarch of Lisbon, issued guidelines on how to interpret and implement Amoris Laetitia‘s (AL) polemic Chapter 8 in his diocese. I wrote an article about it on this blog, titled “The Patriarchate of Lisbon’s faithfulness to Amoris Laetitia“. One of the things I appreciated more in these guidelines was how they didn’t try to artificially fit AL into a preconceived idea, be it the Kasperite liberalization of...
On June 21, Pope Francis fielded questions from journalists aboard the volo papale from Geneva, Switzerland to Rome. A German reporter named Roland Juchem asked him about a proposal of some of the bishops of his country to admit the Protestant spouses of Catholics to sacramental communion. The question has a backstory. Last February, the Deutsche Bischofskonferenz – under the direction of Cardinal Reinhard Marx – approved by majority vote a pastoral guide for inter-communion....
For anyone who is wondering or confused by what’s going on with the current policy of separating children from their parents at the border, you’re not alone. There has been a lot of confusion created by the policy, including the President’s own statements on why this has been happening. I’m writing to explain the situation and help articulate a response. For context, I’m an attorney who works with migrant farm workers, which includes immigration relief...
Adam Rasmussen
Brian Killian
John Cavanaugh-O'Keefe
Claire Domingues
Daniele Palmer
David Wanat
Daniel Amiri
D.W. Lafferty
Henry Karlson
Joe Dantona
John Paul Shimek
Lillian Vogl
Mark Hausam
Mike Lewis
Nate Tinner-Williams
Nathan Turowsky
Paul Fahey
Pedro Gabriel
Pete Vere
Rachel Dobbs
Robert Fastiggi
Stephen Walford
Toni Vercillo
