The CDF has, to the delight of many, smacked down an initiative from the German bishops to bless same-sex unions with a signoff from the pope. As reported today by The Pillar: The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Monday issued a response to the question “Does the Church have the power to…
This morning, I awoke to a message from an associate in Asia. He writes: “I know you don’t want to write negative stuff anymore, but this is terrible. No more private Masses in St. Peter’s. So many altars will be desolate, then.” He attached a link to the following letter, in Italian, from the Vatican…
The post you are about to read started as a Twitter thread, but the more I think about it, the more I think it should go here too. It’s going to be largely the same as what I posted there, with some modifications as I go. I am not going to take the time to…
Modern life, despite all of its many comforts, is a cesspool. We know it. We can feel it. We swim in it every day — a never ending torrent of information, images, and interactions — and we never come out sparkling clean, even if we try. Social media is bad. The word “toxic” is overused,…
The headline for this piece was the first thought I had upon reading the following from The Pillar: The Archdiocese of Washington has allocated more than $2 million for the “ministry activities” of retired Cardinal Donald Wuerl. The archdiocese, which has pledged in recent years a commitment to financial transparency, has not responded to questions…
It’s a new interview from an old pope who had promised silence, but has offered anything but. In a new conversation with Corriere Della Serra‘s Massimo Franco, we get yet another glimpse into the mind and life of Joseph Ratzinger behind the walls of Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, and per usual, it offers a little insight,…
I took a walk this morning around the neighborhood. Second day in a row. This is an insignificant accomplishment by any objective measure, but it’s a milestone for me. (Recall, if you will, my recounting of Scott Adams’ discussion of the technique whereby one wiggles their pinky finger as the first step to overcoming a…
If there’s one question that has come up over the years of covering the crisis in the Church, again and again, it’s this: what do we do now? I’ve come to realize that we are, in many respects, through the looking glass when it comes to the state of Catholicism. The crisis is, for all…
As I mentioned in a recent post, I haven’t been writing as much lately because I have less to say that feels important enough to put into words. I’m in this amorphous phase of thought right now where I’m doing a lot of information gathering, some actively, some passively, trying to reset my perspective for…
If you’re a Catholic, you’ve probably seen it: a mysterious series of letters and numbers, looking for all the world like an equation, inscribed in chalk over a doorway at your parish, or at the home of a friend. Maybe you thought you could figure it out. Maybe you were too embarrassed to ask, “What…
If things here at 1P5 have seemed a little quieter than usual lately, that’s because they have been. Fewer submissions have been coming in, and I’ve personally struggled to find more things worth saying, leaving my pen keyboard a bit more unused than I’d like. If you’ve ever lived through a hurricane, the current moment…
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