It is integral to human nature: our focus is principally determined by what we are looking at. When we speak to others, we make eye contact. When we move from place to place, we point ourselves in that direction. Pilots face forward. Drivers too. Surgeons don’t stare at the back wall of an operating theater. I’ve yet to…
Last week saw the release of an important interview (PDF link) given by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna and one of Pope Francis’ most trusted theological advisers and spokesmen, to the Roman Jesuit journal La Civiltà Cattolica. The topic was the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia (AL): This interview has already made waves round the world,…
I just returned from a vacation spent in the company of an old friend. Because it rained during much of our trip, we ended up talking quite a bit over the course of a week. We talked about our lives. Our families. And our love for God. Turns out, we have a lot in common. One…
At Crisis Magazine, Austin Ruse has a piece that is, I think it’s fair to say, unfortunately necessary. First, he lays out the facts of the martyrdom of St. Maria Goretti, her canonization, and the way she has been characterized by two popes. Quoting Pope John Paul II on the centennary of Maria Goretti’s death,…
One of the rules of effective communication is not to say things when you’re angry. But I can’t stop being angry. Every day there is an endless parade of stupidity, malice, debauchery, and violence that assaults our senses and steals our peace. This week, I’ve been helping an elderly family member with a move, and…
As most internet-connected Catholics are now aware, Cardinal Robert Sarah recently encouraged priets and bishops to begin celebrating Mass ad orientem. He also specifically suggested that they begin this Advent. This is an excellent proposal. And judging from the backlash it has already inspired, I think it’s important that we communicate to our bishops our…
At Catholic World Report, Nick Bottom imagines what would happen if Pope Francis applied his moral standards — as laid out in Amoris Laetitia — to some of his own statements. The result is quite clever…I might even go so far as to say brilliant. The juxtaposition of the equivocations in AL in another context really create clarity…
It’s an impressive lineup. From Bishop Athanasius Schneider and Fr. Linus Clovis to various heads of right-to-life organizations and other marriage and family apostolates around the world, 16 life and family leaders have joined in a video appeal to Pope Francis to make right the wrongs perpetrated by Amoris Laetitia. A teaser of the video can be…
When I called Dr. Ingo Dollinger on Pentecost Sunday of 2016 to confirm reports I had heard about his knowledge concerning the missing part of the Third Secret of Fatima, I had no idea what would follow. After my report on his answer, and the very surprising strong denial from the Vatican Press Office in this matter, the…
Well that didn’t take long. Like an imprudent Imperial officer questioning Darth Vader’s confidence in the Force, Cardinal Robert Sarah dared to address a central tenet of the erroneous Spirit of Vatican 2, and for his “lack of faith” in a post-conciliar liturgical innovation, he has been promptly given the Vader treatment…and in the Year…
In a press release issued today, an international group of “Catholic academics and pastors” states that they have petitioned Rome to address serious theological problems with the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. Among the 45 signatories are Catholic prelates, scholars, professors, authors, and clergy from various pontifical universities, seminaries, colleges, theological institutes, religious orders, and…
