Saturday was an incredibly joyful day here in the Archdiocese of Washington. Sixteen – sixteen! – men were ordained to the priesthood at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The beauty of the early summer day outside was matched only by the overflowing of graces inside the Basilica and the...
The link between Populorum Progressio and the Second Vatican Council does not mean that Paul VI’s social magisterium marked a break with that of previous Popes, because the Council constitutes a deeper exploration of this magisterium within the continuity of the Church’s life (…) It is not a case of two typologies of social doctrine,...
The new document from the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity (DPCU), The Bishop of Rome: Primacy and synodality in ecumenical dialogues and responses to the encyclical Ut unum sint, is not light reading. With more than 40,000 words and 151 pages in length, this document seeks to present and synthesize nearly 30 years...
I belong to a community of Discalced Carmelite nuns, and as cloistered contemplatives, we have heard several times that every bishop wants a contemplative community in his diocese to pray for him and his people. There was a story that, when our present bishop, the Most Reverend James F. Checchio, was named the...
In recent days, an alleged quote from Pope Francis saying that “divorce can be morally necessary” has gone viral on Philippine social media. On May 22, the House of Representatives of the Philippines approved House Bill 9349, known as the Absolute Divorce Act, which could lead to legalizing divorce in the Philippines. The objective...
A reflection on the readings for June 9, 2024 On September 19, 1985, at around 7 a.m., Mexico City and its surrounding area suffered one of the largest earthquakes in its history, registering 8.1 on the Richter scale. The consequences of the disaster were devastating and the following days were filled with chaos....
There are, of course, those who are struggling with invincible ignorance about our most holy religion. Sincerely observing the natural law and its precepts inscribed by God on all hearts and ready to obey God, they live honest lives and are able to attain eternal life by the efficacious virtue of divine light...
For months, the Vatican has faced regular criticism over its continued use of artwork by Marko Rupnik, the former Jesuit priest accused of decades-long sexual, psychological, and spiritual abuse against dozens of victims. Despite the evidence against him and numerous allegations, his art continues to appear in various Vatican communications, which has caused...
The Justifying Power of Mercy Some years ago, I read about this incident at a middle school: a boy, who was about ten years old, was suspected of stealing. One day, at the end of class, his teacher called him over and asked him if he would run an errand for her. He...
Anyone who has spent enough time around the Catholic Church knows the type: they are variously stigmatists, exorcists, end-times prophets, levitating, bilocating, breathing forth the odor of sanctity – sometimes all at once. They claim knowledge not vouchsafed any other mortal before or since. On them and on their unique and unprecedented intimate...
On June 1, Mike Lewis wrote a compassionate, sensitive commentary on the homophobia experienced by gay priests. This is a subject of renewed widespread discussion in the Church following Pope Francis’s reputed frociaggine (“f****try”) remarks about gay seminarians last month. I highly recommend Mike’s essay. I’d like to write on the subject, however,...
A reflection for the feast of Corpus Christi At the core of our Catholic faith is the belief in the real presence of Christ – body, soul, and divinity – in the Eucharistic Bread and Wine. Take this belief out of Catholicism and you have a totally different religion. The sacramental life would...
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