Columnist: Fr. Raymond de Souza
One, Many Cardinal Fernández Fiascos
he flagship of the fleet, the Holy See Ship Synodality, is in dire straits (leaks about the final document that will be issued today suggest it will be, for those ...
Rome Today Isn’t What It Was
Thirty years ago, St. John Paul the Great launched two new pontifical academies, the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences (PASS) and the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV). It was the ...
At St. Patrick’s, a Battle of the Icons
I love St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. It was painful to see it the object of a sacrilegious ambush early in Lent. On February 15, a funeral was held ...
Dead Synodality
Sacrilege and synodality have come to the fore these last days. For years the annual Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles has been a regular source of liturgical distress as ...
Synodality Itself Reaches a New Level of Scrutiny
Has the process been undermined with the publication of ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ and its subsequent clarification? Consider these 12 questions. This year will mark the completion of the Synodal on Synodality ...
Two Commentaries by Two Prominent Priests on Fiducia Supplicans
Twenty Questions for Cardinal Fernández (and Pope Francis?) Fr. Raymond J. de Souza Earlier this year, Cardinal Daniel Sturla, Archbishop of Montevideo, and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, then the Archbishop ...
After Attempted Whitewash, Francis Reopens Rupnik Investigation In Response To Worldwide Outcry
With the world media in Rome to cover the signature synodality initiative of Pope Francis, a stomach-churning Jesuit scandal returned to dominate the news. To the outrage of victims, the ...
How to Bury a Disgraced Deceased Bishop?
De mortuis nil nisi bonum. So goes the ancient Latin aphorism: Speak no ill of the dead. But what of the dead who did so much ill that any speech ...
Pope Francis Hoped to Convert the World, But Has the World Converted the Church?
The watching world loved it. Here was a friendly, informal sort, who eschewed the traditional vestments for the occasion and spoke to the vast assembly in the same way he ...
The Cat’s Out of the Bag Now, With the Synod on Synodality
The recent letter to the world’s bishops from Cardinal Mario Grech, head of the Vatican synod secretariat, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the Synod on Synodality, shows that ...
German Bishops Take Perilous Detour From Unity With Rome
Rome asked — begged, actually — the German bishops to take an off-ramp from their Synodal Way, which demands significant changes in Catholic doctrine, sacramental practice and ecclesial governance. The ...
Peeking Inside the Synod on Synodality’s Boardroom
The latest step in the synodal process on synodality for a synodal Church was unveiled in late October, a document for the “continental” stage. That stage will occupy the meeting ...
Priest’s Book Tells Sad Tale of Jesuits’ Abortion Complicity in the US
Jesuit At Large: Essays and Reviews, by the late Paul V. Mankowski, S.J., exposes corruption within the Society of Jesus. Need a prominent cleric to give cover to Catholic politicians ...
Why Cardinal Pell Is Vindicated by Cardinal Becciu’s Firing
As Cardinal Pell arrives in Rome this week after three years in Australia, a look at the counterpoint between the cardinal’s return and Cardinal Becciu’s fall. An important, but not ...
‘Querida Amazonia’: On the Question of Married Priests, a Papal Pattern Returns
In Querida Amazonia, as in previous documents, clear questions were posed. Ambiguous answers were given, awaiting clarification by novel maneuvers. In regard to the magisterium of Pope Francis it’s not ...
Why Pope Francis’ Appointment of Cardinal Tagle Is Significant
Did Pope Francis just name his successor? Much of the commentary about the appointment of Cardinal Luis Tagle, until now archbishop of Manila, to the Congregation for the Evangelization of ...
Pan-Amazon Synod Was a Done Deal 5 Years Ago
Married priests — and perhaps women deacons — are on the way. The Synod of Bishops on the Pan-Amazon Region comes to a conclusion, with the participants voting on the ...
How John Paul II’s Great Encyclical Is Being Erased From History
At the heart of the controversy over the dismantling of the John Paul II Institute in Rome is the effective sacking of two leading moral theologians, Mgr Livio Melina and ...
Vatican Vindicates Viganò?
According to the organisers, the recent Vatican sexual abuse summit was aimed at changing a mindset more than specific procedural reforms. Yet the legal reforms announced last week for the ...
Vatican Financial Reform is in Tatters
Frustration has been widely expressed at the lack of progress on sexual abuse reform. But on finances, things are getting worse There is a classic episode of Yes Minister in ...
A New Day Dawning for Retired Bishops
Will Los Angeles revisit the Cardinal Mahony file in light of Bishop Bambera’s action in Scranton? In the maelstrom of news on sexual abuse, it may not be immediately noted ...
