Ines A. Murzaku: The Sino-Vatican deal on the appointment of bishops, really does resemble, as Pope Francis has suggested, the status quo . . . of the 12th century. During the in-flight press conference as he was retuning from the Baltic countries, Pope Francis recalled how kings and emperors once controlled bishops’ appointments. He expressed relief […]
Brad Miner reviews “Gosnell,” the dramatic film about the arrest and trial of the abortionist who was “America’s Biggest Serial Killer.” There have been notorious murderers brought down for reasons other than their most horrific crimes. Al Capone, mob boss, was felled by tax evasion; Dr. Kermit Gosnell, abortionist, by illegally selling prescriptions for painkillers. I’d […]
Two statements came out from the Vatican over the weekend, basically during the pause in the Synod for the Sunday observances. Both dealt with the McCarrick case, and were partly a reaction to the constant presence of that case and – indirectly – other abuse cases in synodal conversations about the Church and young people. […]
Randall Smith: Many Catholics who decry sex-abuse cover-ups were fine with bishops who looked the other way with regard to their own sexual sins. Some say that people are leaving the Catholic Church over the current scandals. This confuses me. In whom did you have faith? The priest? The bishop? Or God? If your faith […]
Carlos Caso-Rosendi on accusations of sex-abuse coverups made against Pope Francis while Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The Enemy is in the Church. In the last month or so, various Catholic news outlets have asked me to research the veracity of various accusations made against Pope Francis while he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Did he cover […]
Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek: If the Vatican previously investigated abuse, those results must be shared; if Rome didn’t investigate, we need to know why not. Representatives of the American bishops have now met with Pope Francis to discuss the much-needed investigation of the McCarrick Affair. This is understandable since any process involving the ex-cardinal and […]
Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek: The passivity of some bishops on sex abuse is itself an abuse of power that denies justice and charity to the people of God. Countless voices are being raised among bishops, priests, and laity calling for credible investigations of the McCarrick scandal, sexual abuse cover-ups, and the crisis in sexual morality, […]
James Kilpatrick on a new film, Faithkeepers, that documents the plight of Christian families under Muslim rule. Why wasn’t it shown at WMOF2018? Faithkeepers trailer: Imagine that you find an envelope outside your door. In it are six bullets and a note: “With these six bullets we will kill you and your family.” Imagine that a few days […]
Robert Royal writes that most U.S. bishops appear to await their November annual meeting to craft a new sex-abuse policy. But we can’t wait months. I came across an advertisement for a financial institution recently that, sad to say, displayed more wisdom than we usually find today among many people, including many Catholics: “Trust is binary. […]
Fr. Timothy V. Vaverek, STD on our current crisis: With Christ we can tolerate mistaken or wicked popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, religious, and lay people. Note: Many people write asking: What are we supposed to do amidst all the turmoil in the Church and the world at the moment? Fr. Vaverek provides a no-nonsense, bracing answer below. […]
Brad Miner hopes the McCarrick scandal will benefit the Church. It’s time to drain the swamp of clerics who commit sexual sins, priests and bishops alike. A prediction: The McCarrick revelations will turn out to be a good thing. How so? Well, a part of the priest sex-abuse fairy tale is the cover-up. We know this – and that the […]
Matthew Hanley on the philosopher del Noce’s analysis of modernism: any thought pertaining to divinity in man is deemed meaningless and irrelevant. When previously on this site I wrote about the first book translated into English by the Italian philosopher Augusto Del Noce (d. 1989), I wanted to include his almost offhand remark: “There is no family if […]
Nicholas Senz writes that soon civil society won’t just reject Catholic teaching; it may feel compelled to silence and squash the Church itself. One of my favorite scenes in the movie Becket (if one can single out a thread from that masterpiece) is the moment when the eponymous archbishop is confronted by King Henry’s lieutenants, who try to […]
Fr. Gerald E. Murray: Engaged couples have an instinctive trust that the priest, as a man of God, will tell them what God expects of them in marriage. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, made some provocative remarks about priests and marriage preparation in an interview that appeared […]
Michael Pakaluk on the efforts to rescue the Thai soccer team trapped in a flooded cave. Humanity’s need for salvation meets humanity at its best. May all the Wild Boars be saved! – That is my prayer, joined with those of many others, please God, by the time you read these words it will have been […]