Pope Francis broke me
Pope Francis broke me. I used to believe in a Church that was comforting. I loved exploring the depths and breadth of its teaching. I marveled at its grandeur. It was among those that also shared my beliefs and convictions...
Tagged: Catholic Church
Strickland, Altman, and the Making of a Parallel Church
Recent videos uploaded to YouTube have revealed that on March 20, 2025, Bishop Joseph Strickland, emeritus of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, celebrated a public Mass at Mary, Mother of the Light Maronite Catholic Church in Tequesta, Florida. The Mass...
Ill or Evil?
[This article is the third in a four-part series on mental health. The previous articles addressed the science of psychology and the unique role that the Church can play in the lives of those suffering from mental health issues. The...
The Science of Psychology and a Skeptical Church
(This article is the first in a four-part series on Mental Health written by Ariane Sroubek, PsyD. Ariane holds a doctorate in School and Child Clinical Psychology as well as a bachelor’s degree in biblical and theological studies. Her undergraduate...
The Vatican’s first woman prefect (and more on McElroy to DC)
Pope Francis’s appointment of Sister Simona Brambilla as the first woman to lead a major Vatican office marks a historic milestone in the Catholic Church’s governance. As the new prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies...
Complicity
Recently I encountered a woman who said to me that many people have left the Church as a direct result of the news of the unmarked graves on the property of the old Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia —...
Why We Can’t Dismiss the Trauma of Abuse
“Don’t leave Jesus because of Judas.” “Don’t let Satan get between you and the Church.” “Put your faith in Christ, not in men.” Quite often, when a Catholic expresses anguish, disappointment, or spiritual disillusionment over revelations of sexual abuse by...
The real harm caused by papal critics
A piece I wrote was published today in America. It was very difficult to write, but as Sam Rocha mentioned in our most recent podcast, it’s important that we share our stories. I’m telling my story because I know I...
Austen Ivereigh on evangelization in the post-pandemic world
Listen to part 2 of our Peter’s Field Hospital conversation with Austen Ivereigh. In this concluding segment, DW Lafferty and I talk to Austen about how to communicate the message of Pope Francis to Catholics who resist his message. We...
An Easter People, Even without the Sacraments
The other day I was told about one of my former RCIA candidates who was received into the Church a few years ago. He and his wife have a baby, and they had hoped to have their child baptized on...
On Critics of the Church’s Precautionary Measures
Over the last 2,000 years, we have faced many different plagues and crises. The Church has responded to them in various ways, based on the needs of the people and the knowledge of science at the time. As our knowledge...
The False Authority of Personal Interpretation
Certain Catholics who oppose the decisions and teachings of Pope Francis (or other recent popes) proudly announce their “orthodoxy” by citing certain Scripture and Church documents—the latter frequently from the time of St. Pius X—in order to argue that the...
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