On December 8th, 1870—150 years ago today—Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph the Patron of the Universal Church. In honor of today’s anniversary, Pope Francis announced this morning a Year of St. Joseph, that begins today and will be celebrated through December 8th, 2021. Accompanying this announcement, Pope Francis released a new Apostolic...
“At the Synod on Amazonia in Rome in October 2019 some groups in the Church and their media reported the presence of indigenous people through a continuously distorted lens. What was beautiful in that synod—the deep respect for indigenous culture and the presence of the native people in the prayer services—was twisted by...
A reflection on the Sunday readings for December 6, 2020 — the Second Sunday of Advent Today, December 6, is the feast of St. Nicholas, who is of course known in popular culture as Santa Claus. Santa Claus is the iconic Christmas figure for children in the US, and I don’t think it is...
“I am a sinner, but I trust in the infinite mercy and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These were the first words spoken by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio when asked by the cardinal dean if he accepted his canonical nomination as the Supreme Pontiff. In his first substantive interview after he was...
“It is Jesus in fact that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for...
I don’t think Pope Francis is recognized enough for his skill as a theologian. It is the Pope Emeritus who is, rightly, widely recognized as possessing a brilliant theological mind. Francis, on the other hand, is seen as the great pastor, or, as Austen Ivereigh recently put it, “the world’s spiritual director.” I...
Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, comments upon the use and misuse of the just war tradition within Catholicism (FT 256-62). His main point is that “in recent decades every single war has been ostensibly ‘justified’” by its apologists, when in fact “it is very difficult nowadays to invoke the rational criteria...
In 2016, just before Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, Fr. Frank Pavone, the founder of Priests for Life, published an article entitled, “Cardinal Bernardin’s Consistent Ethic of Life – The Myth and the Reality.” It turns out that this article was prophetic, because after enduring four years of MAGA...
Pope Francis is often accused by his critics of being a leftist, a Marxist, a Communist, a liberal. Not surprisingly, many have argued that Fratelli Tutti is a “leftist” document, inspired by the ideas of Freemasonry, Liberation Theology, and socialism. These accusations are quite ironic. I am not aware of any other encyclical...
Dear Friends, Today is GivingTuesday, a day that was invented in response to the consumerist messages of the new commercialist “holidays” of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The official website for GivingTuesday describes this day as “a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the...
“God wills, Man dreams, the work is born” — Fernando Pessoa “O Infante,” “Mensagem” (my translation) Pope Francis often asks us to dream. In fact, the Holy Father signs off his most recent encyclical with these words: “Yet only by identifying with the least did [Blessed Charles de Foucauld] come at last to...
As the Savior of humanity, Jesus Christ had a record of embracing those disparaged by members of his Jewish culture. It was common for him to dialogue with tax collectors, gentiles, women, sinners, and prostitutes conveying to them that they were a part of the Kingdom. To Jesus, everyone, regardless of their unique...
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