Our Sovereign Pontiff
I would willingly have served an authentic master — a royal prince or a king. You can put your two hands folded within those of another and swear faith as a vassal… Of course it’s easy enough to say that...
Category: Commentary
Addressing the intersection of sexual and spiritual abuse
Last November, Cardinal Fernández (the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith) said that the Church was considering making “spiritual abuse” a crime in Canon Law. Over the next couple days, I probably had 15 different people text...
The Bishop, the Backlash, and the Charlotte Latin Mass Meltdown
For nearly three weeks, Bishop Michael Martin of Charlotte has faced a barrage of criticism stemming from his efforts to implement Traditionis Custodes in his diocese. The backlash to his May 23 letter — which stated that, as of July...
Three Ways Pope Leo XIV Can Build on Francis’s Transformational Papacy
Pope Leo XIV is the first American pope. The announcement was stunning. Cardinal Robert Prevost appeared on numerous lists of papabile, but many of us remained skeptical that we would actually see an American pope. Yet, as Michael Sean Winters...
Pope Leo, Chicago, and the end of the Catholic Culture War
“Allow me to share reflections drawn from the discourses and insights of three cardinals—all from Chicago: Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who was Archbishop of Chicago in the 1990s; Cardinal Blase Cupich, who is currently the archbishop; and myself, as you know,...
Parrhesia under Francis and Leo
An outlet called the Daily Compass recently ran a brief interview with Singapore’s Cardinal William Goh. Goh offers both praise and criticism for Pope Francis and expresses high hopes for Pope Leo XIV, generally in terms that we in the...
Faith and Deepfakes: Pope Leo XIV in the Age of AI
In the days following Pope Leo XIV’s election, the internet has been inundated with AI-generated deepfake videos, images, and messages purporting to depict the new pontiff. These media fabrications, some of which have been circulated on platforms like YouTube and...
Turning the page
Habemus Papam! God bless and protect Pope Leo XIV! What an eventful few weeks this has been! During Holy Week, Pope Francis surprised us by going out and about, visiting St. Peter’s and the tomb of Pope St. Pius X,...
The Peace of Pope Leo XIV
The first public words spoken by Pope Leo XIV struck me. “Peace be with you all!”, he proclaimed as he emerged from the loggia above St. Peter’s Basilica. Then he added, “Beloved brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting...
The Next Pope: Pray for Him
The conclave is convened. It will not be long before the white smoke rises above the Sistine Chapel, and our next pope dons the white cassock and steps out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. The crowds will cheer,...
Pope Francis has changed us all
As the world awakens for the second day of the conclave, I find myself reflecting deeply on the future of the Church and the man who will soon occupy the Chair of Peter. We do not yet know who he...
The Princes of the Periphery
In the upcoming papal conclave we are seeing a lot of talk about “peripheral” or “Global South” cardinals—recent creations from Africa and Asia who are perceived as potential wild cards, often with eclectic views on the issues facing the Church...
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