An area of contention and debate surrounding the state of the Roman liturgy today is sacred music. Many today will point out that Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on Sacred Liturgy, states, “The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as...
A big mistake that some Catholics make is to think of the liturgy as clergy-centered. Honestly, it’s difficult to blame them—priests really do play a great role in liturgical celebrations. For example, without a priest, it is impossible to have...
Today the Holy Father, Pope Francis, stunned the Catholic media sphere by abrogating Pope Benedict XVI’s controversial 2007 Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (SP). Francis wrote in his own Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes: I take the firm decision to abrogate all...
Obviously there’s a lot more to say, but I think the key to Pope Francis’s decision to abrogate “Summorum Pontificum,” Benedict’s document that liberalized the use of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, in the motu proprio “Traditionis Custodes”...
The Second Vatican Council—specifically in its Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, Apostolicam Actuositatem and in the Apostolic Constitution Lumen Gentium—affirmed that the laity are co-responsible for the mission of the Church. One narrative of the post-conciliar years has...
Rachel Amiri, Mike Lewis, and Adam Rasmussen are joined by guest contributor Malcolm Schluenderfritz to discuss his recent post on the alleged failure of Vatican II and the barriers to the Council’s reception and full implementation. Malcolm Schluenderfritz hosts Happy Are...
On May 3, Crisis Magazine published an article by Eric Sammons titled “Moving Beyond Vatican II.” In it, Sammons argues that it is time to stop arguing for or against the second Vatican Council. He suggests that it is time...
Dei Verbum, chapter 4: The Old Testament The fourth chapter of Dei Verbum is about the Old Testament. It is shorter than the previous chapters (only three paragraphs) because it does not involve such difficult and controversial subjects. The first...
My recent piece about dissent on the so-called “Catholic right” has generated a bit of a buzz. In the piece, I argue that dissent from what is described colloquially as the Catholic “right” is uniquely dangerous because it presents itself...
In my previous post in my ongoing series about Dei Verbum, I explained how recognizing literary genres is crucial to sound biblical interpretation. Now, as promised, I will explain why historical context is also essential. Here is what Dei Verbum...
In a 1969 German radio broadcast, Father Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, predicted where he believed the Church was headed. Ratzinger envisioned that the Church of the future generations would lose political power and social acceptance. He said:...
Social media has given a big boost to Catholic traditionalism. What once was fringe has become almost mainstream, at least on the internet. When shared online, the teachings of the Catholic Church as set forth authentically by Pope Francis, his...
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