During the press conference for the Vatican Summit on Sex Abuse, early Monday, Cardinal Blase Cupich was asked by CNN’s Delia Gallagher to address whether “part of the problem is that priests, bishops and Cardinals are, themselves, engaged in illicit sexual behavior and therefore unwilling to denounce each other.” Cardinal Cupich, who was hand-chosen by…
“And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.” —Matthew 24:22 Do you enjoy sins of the flesh? Are you greedy? Do you believe in the Catholic Faith but are lukewarm? Are you born into a non-Christian faith or part…
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), in addition to being among the widely acknowledged geniuses of the human race, was one of the most eminent modern apologists for the Christian faith. In an era such as ours that denigrates both rationality, man’s distinctive trait, and belief in God, man’s highest dignity in this life, we have much to…
The sex abuse summit in Rome hasn’t even begun yet this week, and already things aren’t looking so good for any serious attempt to deal with this global crisis. Related Links: Presentation of the Meeting on “The protection of minors in the Church” 2019-02-18 (Vatican News) Cardinal Cupich: Vast majority of clergy abuse is homosexual,…
Tradition tells us that as Saint Thomas Aquinas was approaching the end of his life, Jesus Christ appeared to him in a vision and spoke to him from the cross, inquiring as to how he may reward the great Doctor for his contributions to the Church’s body of thought. “You have written well of me,…
Often times, as I scramble from writing one story to another, spend my days (and often nights) recording and editing video or podcasts, or try in vain to work my way through an overflowing email inbox, correspondence from readers — real, physical notes or letters — begin piling up on my desk. Today, I took…
Just because “Uncle” Ted McCarrick has been laicized and made a scapegoat on behalf of a Vatican that continues to demonstrate it’s anything but serious about clerical abuse, it doesn’t mean there’s nothing left we can learn from him. Here, very briefly, are two lessons from McCarrick worth remembering. First: just because a high-ranking cardinal…
Editor’s Note: Despite our stated concerns about the forthcoming Martel book about homosexuality in the Vatican, it presents information that is undeniably going to shape the conversation around the abuse crisis going forward. This, from Marco Tosatti, concerns an important piece of the puzzle. Sodom [which in English is entitled In the Closet of the Vatican], the…
There’s a new book coming out to coincide with the sex abuse summit in Rome, and it’s already all the buzz on a number of Catholic websites. Entitled, In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy [and known as “Sodom” in Europe] the book is written by a French journalist by the name of Frédéric Martel —…
The news broke very early this morning (about 9:30AM Rome time) that Theodore McCarrick, once the Cardinal Archbishop of Washington, DC, powerful Church fundraiser, and a kingmaker in ecclesiastical politics — including the election of Pope Francis — had been found guilty of depraved crimes by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF)…
Confirming what has been widely-rumored in recent weeks, the Vatican has announced today that former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who stands at the center of the Church’s re-awakened clerical sex abuse crisis, has been stripped of the clerical state following an investigation into allegations of longstanding abuse of priests, seminarians, and minors. When levied as a…
