As we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the opening of the first session of the Second Vatican Council, here is a snapshot of the world before, during and after the Council. One cannot understand Vatican II without understanding the Church...
Pope Francis has written a preface to a new collection of Pope John Paul I’s papal documents, entitled The Magisterium: Text and Documents from the Pontificate, published by the John Paul I Foundation and Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV) San Paolo. The book,...
During his trip to Malta, Pope Francis spoke to enthusiastic crowds, praised Malta for its historic values of openness and hospitality, called for charity toward migrants, and met with the sick at St. Paul’s Basilica. During an address to political...
Among the many accusations aimed at the post-Vatican II Church by radical traditionalists, the accusation of “difference” stands out. Traditionalists claim that the post-Vatican II Church is “different”; they claim that the liturgy, spirituality, and pastoral practice of the modern...
On January 8, 2022, Crisis Magazine published an article by Mary Cuff, “The Beauty of Austerity.” In her article, Ms. Cuff presents St. Maravillas de Jesús, the Spanish Discalced Carmelite and Foundress, as the model and patron saint of resistance...
Editor’s note: This is the eighth and final article in “Combat For Contemplative Life,” a series about the responses — inside and outside the cloister — to Pope Francis’s reforms for women religious in contemplative communities. Part one, by Mike...
In my experience, many traditionalists[1] perceive the “New Mass” as empty and bland compared to the richness of the Tridentine liturgy. From their perspective, the new liturgy needs artificial distractions, from ad-libbing to clowns, to maintain people’s interest. The inherent...
Is Latin a “Sacred Language”? The “Iconostasis of the West”? A unifying, universal language? Or are we being fed a bunch of “Just So” stories? What attitudes might these “Just So” stories be inculcating? The Use of Latin While Latin...
On October 13, Pope Francis gave his approval for the beatification of Pope John Paul I, who is best known for having one of the shortest pontificates in history: just 33 days. We have to look back to 1605 to...
How does one tell the story of the Second Vatican Council? It is a question that has fascinated many people over the past fifty years, challenged them as well, because for one thing, more than one story is involved. Why...
Six weeks ago Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter called “Traditionis Custodes” (“Guardians of the Tradition”). When I heard the news and read the letter, my first thought was, “thank God.” In this essay, I want to explain why, and suggest...
Reuters recently reported that some Israeli rabbis had written the Vatican to express their “distress” about one line from Pope Francis’s recent addresses on Galatians: “The Law, however, does not give life.” According to Reuters, the rabbis worry that this...
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