Despite the pivotal role he played in Vatican II, Benedict XVI has spent the rest of his career, particularly his emeritus papacy, distancing himself from it.
Ministerial Juridic Persons, mostly comprised of laypeople, have canonical authority for church ministries. That’s unprecedented, and potentially transformative.
Readers respond to pieces about the reach of EWTN, the performative politics of abortion, and the Vatican’s failure to consult the laity on reproductive technology.
Thomas Merton taught me to value self-denial, but a bout of depression forced me to question whether asceticism was the healthiest response to my life.
Vatican II marked a turning point, showing that appropriate change did not mean losing one’s identity but, rather, enhancing it or salvaging it from ossification.
By dragging Benedict into schemes like Cardinal Sarah’s book about celibacy, the anti-Francis faction reveals deep flaws in the current emeritus papacy.
In an old-growth forest, everything is connected. No individual plant or animal, and indeed no species, is an island. As Pope Francis warns, we should pay attention.
What can boxing teach us about the good life? Gordon Marino riffs on Sartre, Kierkegaard, and Camus, finding that in order to save our lives, we must risk loving.
