“The Synod for the Amazon was historic; no previous synod was as synodal and reform-oriented as this one.” — Cardinal Claudio Hummes, OFM A year and a half ago, I could hardly have dreamed of giving heed to an “Apostolic Exhortation,” since the Apostles are dead and I was Protestant. So, on the...
I was in prison and you visited me. — Matthew 25:36 In Victor Hugo’s masterpiece Les Miserables, the protagonist Jean Valjean is released on parole and given a yellow identification paper that said to all he met that he was a felon. In every town he visited, he was treated like a pariah....
In this episode of Peter’s Field Hospital, I had a fascinating discussion with DW Lafferty and Dan Amiri about the relationship between the Church and Liberalism. Both recently wrote on how the Church should respond to liberalism (a term that can refer to anything from progressivism and secular humanism to libertarianism and free-market...
Review of The Liminal Papacy of Pope Francis: Moving toward Global Catholicity by Massimo Faggioli It is difficult to draw a clear and balanced picture of Pope Francis. A polarizing figure for some, and an unassuming but respected Church figure for others, the pope has defied misguided efforts to define him, ideologize him,...
During this pandemic the Catholic Church has a choice between working together with the scientific community for the common good, or ignoring that community and confirming the charge that it is anti-science. It is a popular misconception that the Catholic Church is anti-science. This largely results from two factors. First, the Galileo affair...
In a video titled “The Idolatry of Modern Art,” Catholic YouTube personality Brian Holdsworth expresses an opinion regarding modern art that I’ve also heard from other tradition-minded Catholics. His opinion is that modern art is “intrinsically incompatible with Christian worship,” and that it may also be a manifestation of the Modernism condemned by...
But in order that the desired fruit may be derived from this apostolate and this zeal for teaching, and that Christ may be formed in all, be it remembered, Venerable Brethren, that no means is more efficacious than charity. “For the Lord is not in the earthquake” (III Kings xix., II) – it...
As cities around the world begin to peak in Coronavirus infections, many Christians are looking forward to returning to the religious activities and worship that were suspended amid social distancing advisories. Of course, church services are not the only aspect of Christian life that has been impacted by the virus, nor should these...
In this catechesis series, Pope Francis teaches us about the Church. This is the third course in the “Wednesdays with Pope Francis” series. The first course was on the sacraments. The second course was on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This free resource includes no original content from WPI but rather organizes...
This week, Pope Francis once again called upon the faithful to pray the Rosary. He requested that we pray the Rosary every day in the month of May, and he provided two additional prayers to Our Lady that he will be praying following the Rosary for the month. He writes: I want to...
This week, Inside the Vatican, a documentary produced by the BBC aired on PBS (it aired in Great Britain before Christmas). The review for US Catholic describes it as “offering tantalizing peeks into spaces no tourist can access and revealing the everyday work life for some of the 2,600 people working in the...
This week on Peter’s Field Hospital, Dan Amiri and I had the privilege of interviewing the Catholic author and academic Phyllis Zagano. Phyllis Zagano is an internationally acclaimed Catholic scholar and lecturer on contemporary spirituality and women’s issues in the church. In 2016, Phyllis was named by Pope Francis to serve on the...
I think it’s completely natural for believers to look at this pandemic and the profound suffering it is causing and ask themselves “why?” The Catechism calls the experience of suffering and evil a “scandal” before going on to say, “If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares...
“There is the presence of the Holy Spirit, the essence of the new law according to St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. However, this presence does not exclude, but rather demands on the ministerial level the visible, the institutional, the hierarchical. The whole New Testament, preserved and preached by the Church, is a...
“The word ‘rock’ expresses a permanent, subsisting being; therefore, it applies to the person, rather than to one of his necessarily transitory acts. Jesus’ subsequent words confirm this when he said that the gates of the netherworld, the powers of death, will not prevail ‘against it.’ This expression can refer to the Church...
In this week’s episode of Peter’s Field Hospital, Dan Amiri and Paul Fahey join me for a discussion about Divine Mercy, Saint Thomas, and Catholic Social Teaching. Next, I talk to DW Lafferty about Catholicism, Liberalism, and the Culture Wars. Where Peter Is · Peter’s Field Hospital – Episode 004
What will our world look like when this experiment in liberalism comes to an end? I am not asking this hypothetically. The reality is that once-democratic societies around the globe are increasingly eschewing the principles of liberalism in order to support demagogic totalitarian leaders and regimes that channel latent fears and anxieties about...
Anti-Francis Catholics frequently identify themselves as “orthodox” or as strict adherents to Church teaching. While doing so, they must reconcile those claims with the fact that they have chosen to reject the official teachings of the current pope as heretical or doctrinally erroneous. In many cases, they will dismiss magisterial acts as mere...
“Be attentive to that old and always new temptation from the promoters of Gnosticism. They wanted to make a name for themselves and expand their doctrine and fame, so they always sought to say something new and distinct from what the Word of God gave them. That’s what St. John describes with the...
The Gospel reading for the second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, tells the story of “Doubting Thomas.” I was grateful for the reminder that Saint Thomas was late to the game (so to speak) not just by a day or two but for a whole week! What exactly was Thomas doing for...
Adam Rasmussen
Alexander Pyles
Angela Rasmussen
Brian Killian
Carlos X. Colorado
John Cavanaugh-O'Keefe
Claire Domingues
Daniele Palmer
David Wanat
Daniel Amiri
D.W. Lafferty
Henry Karlson
Joe Dantona
John Paul Shimek
J. Patrick Yodzis
Kevin Hay
Mark Hausam
Massimo Borghesi
Matt Palmer
Mike Lewis
Nate Tinner-Williams
Nathan Turowsky
Paul Fahey
Pedro Gabriel
Pete Vere
Rachel Dobbs
Robert Fastiggi
Rodrigo Guerra
Stephen Walford
Toni Vercillo
