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...
It has become common among critics of the Second Vatican Council to use the expression “weaponized ambiguity” to describe certain conciliar teachings. This expression assumes that language in the Vatican II documents is ambiguous, in the sense that teachings can...
In the past five years or so, discussion of Catholic political currents, especially online, has increasingly included an ideology called integralism. Prominent and influential jurists and law professors such as Harvard’s Adrian Vermeule have increasingly begun describing themselves as integralists;...
When we say that biblical inerrancy is “limited,” we need to be careful to define exactly how and in what way it is limited. St. John Henry Newman wrote that the Bible was inspired in “all matters of faith and...
In my previous post, I explored the revision process and debate that led to the final wording of Dei Verbum (DV) 11, which says that the Scriptures teach “without error the truth that God, for the sake of our salvation,...
In part 1 of my analysis of the third chapter of the Vatican II document Dei Verbum (DV), I showed how the Church understands the creation of the Bible as a divine-human synergy. God is its Author insofar as he...
Recently, Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron delivered a keynote address at this year’s Napa Institute Conference. For many Catholics, especially those who love and support Pope Francis, this annual meeting has come to be seen as a gathering of...
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