The Myth of the Ontological Superiority of the Priest
The priest is not an angel sent from heaven. He is a man, a member of the Church, a Christian. Remaining man and Christian, he begins to speak to you the word of God. This word is not his own....
Tagged: theology
What Scott Hahn’s public support for Bishop Strickland signifies
This week, someone sent me a link to Scott Hahn’s Facebook page, where the prominent Catholic professor, author, and speaker shared Bishop Joseph Strickland’s latest pastoral letter, writing, “I am grateful for Bishop Strickland’s inspiring words.” Later, another reader mentioned...
Capital Punishment and Magisterial Authority, Part 1
Editor’s note: In recent years, the Church’s teaching on the death penalty has been a topic of much debate among Catholics, especially in the United States where the practice is still legal. In this essay, “Capital Punishment and Magisterial Authority,”...
I believe so that I may understand
A reflection on the readings of April 23, 3023 — The Third Sunday of Easter Almost one thousand years ago, St. Anselm of Canterbury penned his famous ontological argument for the existence of God. This philosophical proof has been debated,...
Three disparate paradigms at Vatican II
[Editor’s Note: This is the third installment in a series on “Vatican II and Theological Paradigms” by Michel Therrien, STL, STD, exploring the root causes of internal divisions and polarization in the post-conciliar Church, particularly the debate over the possibility...
Pope Francis on protecting the truth of the faith
Anyone who has played youth baseball or softball has seen a backstop, a large structure made of chain-link fencing that is erected behind home plate to serve as a barrier in case a wild pitch or errant throw gets past...
A Post-Conciliar Tribal Church
[Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series on “Vatican II and Theological Paradigms” by Michel Therrien, STL, STD, exploring some critical issues in the post-conciliar Church, particularly the root causes of internal divisions and polarization. In this series,...
Theological Flights of Fancy
The work of theology, in addition to looking over what we know and what we can extrapolate from divine revelation or from the observable world around us, also inherently involves a certain amount of speculation. Sometimes our theological speculation involves...
The Pontifical Academy for Life and revisiting the Kasper proposal
Back in 2014, Cardinal Walter Kasper gave a lecture across two days, February 20 and 21, for an extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals in Rome on the topic of marriage and the family. He spoke at the invitation of Pope Francis....
Thomas and the Super-Thomists
Looking over the websites of Newman Guide-approved Catholic liberal arts colleges that a younger friend of mine was weighing going to a few years back, I noticed a pattern. While this pattern was stronger at some colleges than at others,...
Schism and the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian
As I shared last week, Sacred Heart University hosted a panel discussion entitled, “Francis: Is a Schism on the Horizon?” The discussion was organized and moderated by the Canadian academic and writer Michael W. Higgins and was hosted by Sacred...
Who will be saved?
For as long as we Christians have been doing theology, that is, seeking to understand our faith, we have been asking questions about salvation. How are we saved? From what do we need to be saved? Who will be saved?...
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