The news that the Holy See will publish the results of the internal investigation of files related to former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is welcome indeed. Cardinal Seán O’Malley informed the American bishops at their annual fall meeting that “[t]he intention is to publish the Holy See’s response soon, if not before Christmas, soon in the […]
The first anniversary of the Testimony of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò is upon us today. That document, and the events that followed this bombshell, say a great deal about the crisis now facing the Church. It’s a crisis of truth, of grave immorality and cowardice, of unaccountability by Church hierarchs, of powerful clerics resisting revelation of […]
It has now been one year since the Archdiocese of New York announced that it had received a credible accusation that the retired Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, had, as a priest, sexually abused a high school seminarian in the basement of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. This stunning revelation led to a series of further […]
Last week, Pope Francis issued new canonical norms to deal with the plague of the sexual abuse of minors and adults by clerics and religious. His motu proprio “You are the light of the World” (Vos estis lux mundi) establishes new provisions to deal with the questions of how crimes against the Sixth Commandment are […]
One aspect of getting older, and wiser, is the shedding of once comforting, but in fact naïve illusions about individuals or groups. We normally trust that certain people and groups who profess to carry out a particular and demanding mission in society are in fact going to do just that. Past performance, as far as […]
I have been asked over and over again by lay Catholics: “What can I do to help resolve the crisis in the Church?” My answer is: “Pray and act.” By action, I mean: make known your dissatisfaction to the American bishops, to the Holy See, and to your fellow Catholics. Prayer is all-powerful. God wants […]
The crux of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s indictment of Pope Francis comes toward the end of his Memorandum: “Francis is abdicating the mandate which Christ gave to Peter to confirm the brethren. Indeed, by his action he has divided them, led them into error, and encouraged the wolves to continue to tear apart the sheep of […]
Mom liked to invite them [priests] to dinner and to pose questions to them. The virginity of priests gave birth in her to a feeling of confidence and respect.” So wrote French Benedictine Abbot Dom Gerard Calvet, founder of the monastery of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux, about his childhood. His mother’s closeness to priests was rooted […]