Pope Francis thought of the Church as a polyhedron, comprising many faces that meet each other along sharp lines yet always maintain their individuality.
Pope Francis was among the most famous and the most outspoken advocates for climate justice and integral ecology on the planet. Here, 'Commonweal' authors explore Francis's environmental legacy.
“As Francis has magnificently shown us, a pope serves the People of God with a total self-giving, ad vitam: in sickness or in health, strong or frail, able-bodied or wheelchair-bound, clear in voice or raspy and breathless.”
Like all human institutions, the Church has often failed. But it is more than its failures—and much more than the endless quarrels over Vatican II or sexual morality.
The Trump-Vance presidency has the characteristics of an “übermagisterium” aiming to replace the teaching of the Church with a political-religious ideology.
This jubilee’s theme, “Pilgrims of Hope,” is meant to offer a message of comfort to victims of international warfare, the pandemic, and climate change.
The synodal process and the Final Document suggest that Catholicism is moving in the direction of a more participatory and missionary Church—if slowly.
‘Fiducia supplicans’ seems written to reinforce very stubborn ideas: that there is a proper place for liturgy and that married gay people do not belong there.
If the Church really believes in the indelible dignity of LGBTQ+ persons, it can’t just express sorrow for past abuses or offer words of welcome. It has to actually do something.
The Vatican’s failure to carefully distinguish between “gender theory” and the varied experiences of actual transgender people risks further alienating those that already feel rejected by the Church.
