In the early decades of the twenty-first century, historians will say, the Church sought a new way of operating that would allow it to travel into a new era.
The Synod needs every bit of constructive help it can get. But mischaracterizing the Instrumentum is not helpful. Nor is raising the specter of Joachim of Fiore.
The false argument against restoring women to the ordained diaconate—that women cannot image Christ—is the cause of the disrespect for women on every continent.
In a new collection of essays, Colm Tóibín brings his trademark doggedness to matters of faith, from the politicking of Pope Francis to Marilynne Robinson’s fiction.
There is an obvious tension between how to be “successful” on social media and how to represent the Catholic faith. Why is the Vatican ignoring this fact?
For filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi, Pope Francis is a revolutionary, a man who calls on us to imagine a better world. But being a revolutionary comes with loneliness.
These priests who argue endlessly against washing the feet of women during the Mandatum on Holy Thursday, I wonder, do they ever look up during the ritual?
Vatican II was a time of rising expectations for theology, for how much it could transform the Church and the world. Have those expectations been betrayed?
From 2015: For those listening carefully in the House chamber, Pope Francis will have presented some quandaries that they are more ready to ignore than to engage.
From 2020: Pope Francis addresses the English-speaking world as the coronavirus pandemic now reaches the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
From 2016: Francis offers a practical approach to the challenges of married love that gives us a surprisingly moving exhortation to a courageous way of life.
What seems like a never-ending state of crisis has paralyzed Catholicism. This is not the Church of mercy that Francis has been talking about for the past ten years.
“Benedict really cared about the job he had to do, and in resigning demonstrated that the responsible use of power sometimes requires a willingness to give it up.”
Pope Francis has made it plain that he doesn’t like “casuistry.” But this form of moral reasoning can be made consistent with Francis' teaching on God’s grace.
From 2019: The imaginary encounter between Ratzinger and Bergoglio is imaginative, and emotionally satisfying. But we need to remember that it never happened.
