Peter
Before I make some pointed remarks about Pope Francis’ latest demonstration of inadequacy, let me make one thing perfectly clear—for it is important to enter into this discussion somewhat chastened. If we are Catholic but have not prayed regularly for Pope Francis, we have no right to complain. Do we think Satan does not specifically … Read more
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is asking parishes to help provide at least $12 million of $75 million needed to satisfy the terms of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings stemming from hundreds of clergy abuse lawsuits — and one method to help fund the debt will be to mortgage the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis … Read more
The FBI has opened a widening investigation into sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in New Orleans going back decades, a rare federal foray into such cases looking specifically at whether priests took children across state lines to molest them, officials and others familiar with the inquiry told The Associated Press. More than a … Read more
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Pope Francis on Wednesday and received Communion during a papal Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, witnesses said, despite her position in support of abortion rights. Pelosi attended the morning Mass marking the feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul, during which Francis bestowed the woolen pallium stole on … Read more
Perhaps no U.S. diocese has implemented Traditiones Custodes, Pope Francis’s motu proprio restricting what is commonly known as the traditional Latin Mass, as forcefully as the Archdiocese of Chicago. In fact, Cardinal Blase Cupich’s enactment of the decree has gone beyond what the text of both the motu proprio and a subsequent clarification issued by … Read more
In the fall of 2004, the local news here in Northern Virginia, reported that the pastor of St. John the Apostle in Leesburg had been arrested for the possession of child pornography. To obtain the details of the charges, I made a routine call to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office in Loudoun County, where Leesburg serves … Read more
The late Sir Roger Scruton once wrote about the “religious imposter” Tartuffe, an archetypal character from a play by the seventeenth-century French comedic playwright Molière. “Tartuffe is not simply a hypocrite,” Scruton said, “who pretends to ideals that he does not believe in. He is a fabricated person, who believes in his own ideals since … Read more
It’s Pride Month. Former George W. Bush speechwriter and Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson sees no downsides to gay liberation. “The advance of same-sex marriage, it seems, has generally ended in cake and dancing.” He’s ready to celebrate the triumph of the Rainbow Reich. Not me. I’ll pass on the champagne and free condoms. By … Read more
The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is slamming a Catholic activist group for opposing the display and promotion of pornographic children’s books by Chicago area public libraries. A spokesman for Chicago Cardinal Blasé Cupich said a the church is not supportive of a campaign by Madison, Wisc.-based CatholicVote to remove from libraries books like Gender Queer, … Read more
From a reader…. We had a kneeler for those who wished to kneel and receive on the tongue. The Bishop ordered kneelers removed from the three parishes in the diocese that allowed their use. This impacts the elderly and infirm. His reasons: We have the right to kneel but no right to a kneeler and … Read more