After voting almost unanimously to approve a long-awaited statement on the Eucharist yesterday, the members of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) gave themselves a hearty round of applause. I wonder if they noticed that not many other Catholics are clapping. What was it that prompted the bishops’ applause? Were they saluting each other … Read more
In a signed document explaining his “Rationale for a Diocesan Vaccination Covid-19 Policy,” Bishop Ronald Fabbro of London, Ontario, opens with a curious statement about the Church’s role: Our Church must be mindful that we are a component of society, unique in our vocation, but similar in operation and exposure as many others. Granted, from … Read more
More than six months have passed since the publication of a book that raises damaging questions about the integrity of Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga. More than three years have passed since Cardinal Maradiaga’s auxiliary, vicar general, and right-hand man, Bishop Juan José Pineda Fasquelle, resigned following an investigation into charges of sexual and financial misconduct … Read more
The Vatican certainly rolled out the red carpet for Nancy Pelosi. The blood-red carpet, you might say. Even as Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was urging faithful Catholics to pray for the wayward Speaker, that she might have a “conversion of heart,” a smiling Pope Francis was greeting her at the apostolic palace, giving the world no … Read more
The chairman of the US bishops’ canonical-affairs committee has alerted his fellow bishops to cases in which a biological woman has been “unknowingly admitted to seminary or religious life.” In a September 22 memo, Archbishop Jerome Listecki said that in every known case of a “transgender” candidate, her true sex had been discovered before ordination. … Read more
Pope Francis has lashed out at the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), saying: “They are the work of the devil.” During a meeting with Jesuits in Slovakia, the Pontiff spoke of “a large Catholic television channel that has no hesitation in continually speaking ill of the Pope.” Although he did not name the network, the … Read more
With his pastoral letter powerfully reaffirming the importance of the Church’s teaching on the dignity of human life, San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone has issued a serious challenge: to all Catholics, certainly, but to his brother bishops in particular, and especially to the prominent Catholic politicians who support legal abortion—notably including Speaker of the House … Read more
Spare me, please, from the excited praise of “courageous” American bishops who have issued statements saying that abortion advocacy by President Biden (and other Catholic politicians) is incompatible with the Catholic faith. Of course it’s incompatible with our faith. Everyone knows that. Is it really “courageous” to affirm what everyone already knows? Perhaps it would … Read more
The publication of the McCarrick Report was a welcome step by the Holy See. It answers some questions raised by the appallingly successful ecclesiastical career of a now-defrocked cardinal, long known by many to be a sexual predator who used his authority to gain access to young male victims. A closer study of the Introduction … Read more
Here’s the question—THE question—that’s on my mind these days: As governors continue to impose tight restrictions on churches, when will Catholic bishops encourage civil disobedience? Archbishop Sample of Portland seems to have answered that question, saying it’s not going to happen.” Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco sends a different message: “I’m taking no options off … Read more