Over the weekend, as I browsed my social media timelines, I found myself scrolling past what appeared to be a proliferation of sexual misconduct stories in the worlds of both politics and entertainment. In response to these stories, I also saw not a small amount of gloating, for lack of a better word, coming from…
In the wake of the latest instance of a faithful son of the Church pointing out that the papal emperor has no clothes, we have been treated to yet another flurry of loud and aggressive assertions that there is nothing to see here, no confusion really exists, and can everyone please stop acting childish and just…
John Phillips of The Telegraph (UK) reported this morning that Pope Francis has now “placed a request for Roman Catholic priests to be allowed to marry in Brazil on the agenda of a forthcoming synod on the Amazon region”. Phillips, citing Vatican sources in the Italian paper Il Messaggero, says that the decision to put “a partial lifting…
This morning we told you the story of Fr. Thomas Weinandy, a Capuchin friar who, after receiving what he believed was a sign from God, wrote a letter to Pope Francis — with obvious filial respect and love — in the hopes of bringing to his attention some of the more damaging effects of his…
Fr. Thomas Weinandy is a Capuchin friar who formerly served as chief of staff for the US Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine. He is also a current member of the International Theological Commission at the Vatican. Like Fr. Brian Harrison, OS, Fr. Weinandy is not a supporter of the Filial Correction despite his own misgivings. In…
As I was reading through a backlog of articles and news stories in preparation to write this reflection, I received a phone call from one of my oldest friends. After referencing all that is transpiring in the Church, he asked with a nervous laugh how it is that I’ve not yet fallen into despair. “To…
In his Monday column at First Things, Italian journalist and veteran Vatican-watcher Marco Tosatti gave voice to what had previously been little more than a whispered rumor: that a group was at work, with Vatican knowledge and support, on a kind of interfaith liturgy: [T]here is the matter of the “Ecumenical Mass,” a liturgy designed…
Today I watched a short but moving video about a Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah, that was founded at the close of the Second World War. Once filled with 84 monks, it has now dwindled to only handful, who are being forced to leave because there are not enough of them — in good enough…
Monument of Leonidas, Thermopylae, Greece. Image courtesy of Ava Babili. The Battle of Thermopylae, in 480 BC, was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states and Xerxes I’s Persian Empire. While a Greek army of some 7,000 men blocked a pass for seven days against an army of over 100,000, eventually, they failed after being outflanked.…
Things are escalating again. Pieces, falling into a puzzle with a picture we cannot make out, bit by bit. I recently hinted at my own perception of an increase in activity transpiring behind the veil between this world and the next. I suspect many of you sense it, too. Earlier this week, as I was ruminating…
Yesterday, we received a press release about an upcoming award to be presented to Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan. If you’re in Manitoba, Canada, you’ll want to mark your calendars for this one: Dateline: Wednesday October 25th, 2017 1:00 PM EST Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada The Society of St. Dominic is pleased to announce His…
