I don’t envy Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia’s position. Having one difficult job is bad enough. Having two can be especially challenging. When both jobs are subject to public scrutiny and any mistake will lead to an onslaught of harsh criticism and personal attacks, it can be a nightmare. Archbishop Paglia has two such jobs....
What do our many and varied calendars reveal when we pause to examine them? They both impose and reflect rhythms, some of them natural, some invented. The calendar year seems to be one of the latter. There isn’t anything special or unique about January 1 or December 31, yet we begin and end...
In an address to the members of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life on Saturday, April 22, Pope Francis emphasized the need for laypeople to never become “self-referential” when carrying out their ministries, reflecting on the meaning of ministry in the Church. He pointed out that Church ministries encompass more than just...
A reflection on the Readings of Sunday, April 30, 2023 — The Fourth Sunday of Easter. Click here for the audio version. There are a few things that are common to all of humanity. We all feel hunger, for example. We are all sinners. We all long for love and acceptance. There is...
The Catholic Faith professes that the Sacrament of Order instituted by Christ, by which are conferred spiritual power and grace to perform properly ecclesiastical functions, is one and the same for the universal Church; for, just as Our Lord Jesus Christ gave to the Church but one and the same government under the...
Dominic de Souza joined me yesterday for another episode of the debrief, and we discussed the communication problems of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the miscommunication that led to an Anglican liturgy being held in the Lateran Cathedral in Rome, the new synod voting rules, and the recent statement by Pope Francis that...
The synodal process and the recent remarks of Cardinal McElroy in America Magazine have generated a lot of good discussion within the Church about a critical and vital issue at the heart of pastoral care. His Eminence followed his original piece with a clarification of his previous remarks to which I would like...
Pedro Gabriel is back with another interview about Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’s landmark 2016 document on marriage and the family. This time his guest is papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, whose book Wounded Shepherd chronicles the 2014-2016 synodal process leading to the promulgation of the document and the debates and controversies before, during, and after the...
Working with children, both as a catechist and as a choir director, has taught me many things, but first among them, is that sharing your faith involves all of your senses. This rings true for kids of all ages, from four to 13. For those of you with children or grandchildren that extend...
There is a growing realization that Christians need community. As Pope Francis wrote in Fratelli Tutti: “No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together.” By itself, natural...
A few years ago, author and philosophy professor Edward Feser wrote an essay criticizing Catholic teaching on the death penalty. His piece centers on the following question: Does Pope Francis’s teaching on capital punishment amount to a doctrinal change or merely a prudential judgment? The thrust of his argument is this: either Pope...
I first met Monica in 2017. At the time I was the Director of Religious Education at my parish and I attended a retreat for catechists and DREs that my diocese was hosting. The retreat was called Kerygma Encounter. Monica was one of the presenters and writers of the retreat. I can honestly say...
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