The anger one feels at the open and flagrant contempt on display for the Catholic faith from the highest echelons of the Church is perhaps matched only by the astonishing naivete of those members of the faithful who refuse to admit there is a problem. From the tepidity of the Catholic message during the papal visit…
It’s been a long media week already, and a story that is being buried under the papal visit coverage is one that came out yesterday from veteran Vatican-watcher Ed Pentin: Further serious concerns are being raised about Cardinal Godfried Danneels, one of the papal delegates chosen to attend the upcoming Ordinary Synod on the Family, after…
A couple of days ago, I got an email from a member of the USA Today editorial board: Would you be interested in writing what we call an “opposing view” for USA Today on the Pope’s address to Congress and the general direction he has taken since his election? We are going to write an…
I don’t want to spend a great deal of time on the text of the speech. You can read it for yourself. But there are a few of points I want to highlight and ask questions about. First, I said in my post yesterday morning that the White House address was a missed opportunity to talk…
Did you see Pope Francis’s remarks about the protection of the unborn at the White House this morning? Mr. President, I want to take this opportunity to encourage you to foster a culture of life in this great nation. Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that this unconscionable taking of innocent human life is…
In the year of our Lord’s incarnation 1170, I had been lying on my sick-bed for a long time when, fully conscious in body and in mind, I had a vision of a woman of such beauty that the human mind is unable to comprehend. She stretched in height from earth to heaven. Her face…
In 2013, I wrote a post on my (now mostly-neglected) personal website entitled, It Doesn’t Take a Rigorist: Why All Catholics Should Be Concerned About Pope Francis. It was the first time I had spoken publicly about my concerns since his election. I knew I was touching on something important, but I didn’t expect the reaction…
There’s a LOT going on in the Church right now as we ramp up towards the Synod next month. I’m sorting through news and submissions looking for the stories we should be covering, and discarding those that are a distraction. It is, to borrow a cliche, like drinking from a fire hose. But life,…
Mark Silk is a guy who evidently fancies himself as knowing something about Catholicism. And journalism. But neither of these things is in particular evidence in his most recent piece for Religion News Service. On Tuesday evening, a few hours after the Vatican announced Pope Francis’ streamlining of the Catholic marriage annulment procedure, Cardinal Raymond Burke,…
Last night I finally had a chance to get back to Ed Pentin’s fantastic book, The Rigging of a Vatican Synod. There was a particular section that, once I read it, led to an almost audible “click” as pieces fell into place in my mind. Allow me to explain. On Monday, as I was preparing for my…
Over at Creative Minority Report, Pat Archbold has posted a lengthy excerpt from the prophecies of Ven. Bartholomew Holzhauzer, who seems to have used his God-given gift to predict our present moment in history: “The fifth period is one of affliction, desolation, humiliation, and poverty for the Church. Jesus Christ will purify His people through cruel wars,…
