Bursting the Tower of Bubble
We, as Catholics, are called to unity. This was Christ’s prayer on the eve of his death, that we may all be one (Jn 17:21), as he and the Father are one. Sadly, we’ve been doing a lousy job of...
Category: Commentary
A throwaway culture is a culture of death
Members of the pro-life movement often describe policies that work to undermine the recognition of human dignity and to devalue human life as promoting the “culture of death.” This term was made popular by Pope St. John Paul II in...
Fratelli tutti – Francis’s most traditional document?
There are two persistent criticisms used against Francis and his teachings by many of his detractors. The first is that the Holy Father is not concerned with squaring his (allegedly) new teachings with tradition and prior magisterium. The second claim...
When Patriotism Isn’t A Virtue
Catholic Americans seem to revel in polarization. Our country’s two-party political system, which siphons the electorate into severely limited options, certainly doesn’t help. But there’s an accompanying divisive insistence, particularly among Catholics, that one secular party or the other holds...
Updates on the controversy on homosexual unions
I wish to make some updates to my previous piece on the subject, in light of recent controversies and findings. 1) It seems like the tweet I used containing the snippet from the documentary has been removed. A new one...
The futility of “Explaining the pope away”
Signs of an all-too familiar pattern are appearing. The narrative that the pope didn’t really say what he said seems to be developing in some conservative Catholic circles. We’re still in the midst of the media circus after Pope Francis...
Those Pope Francis quotes: Video editing and media controversy
[This article has been updated. Click here] There was a stir in Catholic media today that began when Catholic News Agency reported that Pope Francis had expressed support for the recognition of same-sex unions. According to CNA, Francis was quoted...
Fratelli Tutti and a fresh perspective on tradition
It has become common in certain Catholic circles to label Pope Francis (and the post-Conciliar Church) as “modernist.” This term is applied to stand in opposition to “tradition,” a fundamental Catholic value. After all, Tradition (with capital “T”) is one...
Why Busy Catholics Should Read Fratelli Tutti
I am a busy husband and dad with a demanding job, so reading a lengthy papal document is not the easiest thing to take the time to do, nor is it typically high on my list of things to do....
A New Pacem in Terris
Fratelli Tutti, the newly-published encyclical, must be read carefully to be properly understood. We must avoid the risk of trivialization that focuses on two or three points and reduces the document to little more than a series of pious intentions....
The Revenge of Pan: A Short History of Moral Panic
What did Archbishop Viganò mean when he declared in a recent interview that “Trump is fighting pedophilia and pedosatanism”? Even for Viganò, whose descent into conspiratorial and apocalyptic thinking should by now be obvious to everyone, this is a jarring...
The inanity of CTRL-F criticism
“This document has 43,000 words. 43,000 words. So that’s a lot. This is—I believe this is his longest encyclical. I didn’t compare it, but it feels like the longest. And I’m going to throw something up on the screen that...
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