On August 6, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a response to two dubia (questions) about clerics performing baptisms with the words “We baptize you” instead of “I baptize you.” According to their response, changing the singular to the plural invalidates the baptism and anyone baptized this way must...
“Jesus’ followers recognize themselves by their closeness to the poor, the little ones, the sick and the imprisoned, the excluded and the forgotten, those without food and clothing.” — Pope Francis General Audience August 19, 2020 In his General Audience on Wednesday, August 19, Pope Francis turned his attention to the “dual pandemic”...
Let us consider the matter of words, specifically the terminology and argumentation used by extreme critics of Pope Francis. Words matter. Words are symbols of underlying meaning. Words set tone and establish context. What is striking is the tone of many of the critics of this pope and the Second Vatican Council. So...
Today is the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A), and today’s readings are especially important to Catholics. Today’s Gospel passage (Mt 16:13-20) contains the words whereby Christ entrusted authority over the Church to the apostle Peter: And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build...
This Sunday, I thought it would be appropriate to share a Sermon by St. Augustine that appeared this week in the Liturgy of the Hours. Augustine wrote this during the fall of an already Christianized Roman Empire, but I think what he preached can still be applied today, namely to many Catholics who...
Recently, Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron delivered a keynote address at this year’s Napa Institute Conference. For many Catholics, especially those who love and support Pope Francis, this annual meeting has come to be seen as a gathering of ideologically-minded Catholics who place the culture wars and American politics over their Catholic...
“There are those who, under the pretext of a greater fidelity to the Church and the Magisterium, systematically refuse the teaching of the Council itself, its application and the reforms that stem from it, its gradual application by the Apostolic See and the Episcopal Conferences, under Our authority, willed by Christ. They discredit...
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. (2 Peter 2:1 NRSVCE) In the context of my previous essay on Vatican II, we turn to more current events. Since 2013, we find a fractured Church that is...
On August 18, 2020—the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote in the US—Crisis Magazine published an article entitled “Against Women’s Suffrage,” by editor-in-chief Michael Warren Davis. When the headline appeared on my Facebook feed, I could not believe what I was...
“By the power of the risen Lord [the Church] is given strength that it might, in patience and in love, overcome its sorrows and its challenges, both within itself and from without, and that it might reveal to the world, faithfully though darkly, the mystery of its Lord until, in the end, it...
On the 2018 Easter Vigil, I became a Catholic Christian. After many years of intense theological debate and challenging my stubbornness to believe, my faith journey finally culminated that evening in our city’s cathedral. As with most converts, one of my major hurdles before entering the Catholic Church was the papacy. Specifically, I...
“I am conscious of the need to promote a sound ‘decentralization’”. —Pope Francis Not a few Catholics have been confused by Pope Francis´s statements about the need for decentralization in Church governance. Some fear this approach, since they think this decentralization might also be applied to moral issues. This would be tantamount to...
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