For the first time since 2019, Pope Francis’s schedule on Holy Thursday looked much like it did before the pandemic. He began the day with a Chrism Mass celebrated with some 1,800 Roman priests and many other bishops, cardinals, and lay faithful filling St. Peter’s Basilica. His day ended with the Mass of...
As we enter the Triduum, many of us are taking stock of the Lent we’ve had–and the resolutions to commit to prayer which we’ve likely made, broken, and re-committed to–and could be feeling more than a little discouraged. We know we are called to pray daily. We know it’s fruitful for us when...
In the wake of the discovery of the remains of five aborted fetuses in the home of pro-life activist Lauren Handy, many pro-lifers have grappled with making sense of a series of events that the mainstream media have characterized, with only slight variation, as “utterly bonkers.” At a live-streamed press conference on April...
Editors’ note: This episode speaks on sexual abuse, trauma, and healing, and contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. In today’s episode of Field Hospital, Jeannie Gaffigan and WPI’s own editor, Mike Lewis, talk to Juan Carlos Cruz about his experience as a survivor of clergy abuse, the Church’s response to the...
In his homily for Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Pope Francis reflected on Christ’s words at the crucifixion: The mantra “save yourself” collides with the words of the Saviour who offers his self. Like his adversaries, Jesus speaks three times in today’s Gospel (cf. vv. 34.43.46). Yet he did not claim anything for...
We spend so much time and energy on the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that we are often spiritually exhausted by the time the last “Alleluia!” rings out on Easter Sunday. After the Easter chocolate has been unwrapped and consumed, and the Easter dinner has been reduced to a pile of...
During his trip to Malta, Pope Francis spoke to enthusiastic crowds, praised Malta for its historic values of openness and hospitality, called for charity toward migrants, and met with the sick at St. Paul’s Basilica. During an address to political authorities and Maltese diplomats, he referred to Vladimir Putin as a “potentate, sadly...
We live in an apology-averse, perhaps even a remorse-averse age. Even churchmen, when accused of severe wrongdoing, are as likely to spin, deny, or counteraccuse as they are to express repentance or seek atonement. That being the case, it is remarkable that Pope Francis offered a direct apology to a delegation of Canadian...
A reflection for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion – April 10, 2022 When prayerfully reading Sacred Scripture, it’s important that we not overlook the seemingly small details, because it’s often in those small details where we find great treasures for the spiritual life. There’s one such detail in the Gospel that was...
“What is the use, in fact, of proclaiming the Catholic dogma of the primacy of Blessed Peter and his successors, and of having disseminated so many declarations of Catholic faith and obedience to the Apostolic See, when actions in themselves openly deny the words? Perhaps the stubbornness does not become even less excusable,...
I don’t have very much time to write, but as you may know my family and I have been abroad for the last couple of weeks and are currently in the Eternal City. The highlight of the trip thus far was the papal audience on Wednesday, where we had the opportunity to meet...
In the first half of this essay, I explained the importance of engaging in dialogue with conspiracy theorists [1]. Thinkers such as Romano Guardini can provide us with the points of congruence that are needed for such dialogue; in particular, Guardini describes the bureaucratic organizations of the modern world in a way that...
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