Every week it seems a new scandal comes out of the Vatican, from financial mismanagement to controversial appointments to officials promoting heresy. What is a Catholic to do in the face of such corruption at the highest levels of the Church? Read more at Crisis Magazine
In private conversations, off-the-record interviews, and moments of candor, Catholic journalists have known what German Cardinal Gerhard Müller recently revealed in plain sight when discussing the Synod on Synodality on EWTN’s The World Over television program: Our Lady’s prophecy to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa in her apparition at Akita, Japan, a half-century ago is now an … Read more
On October 4th, Basic Books released George Weigel’s latest work, To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II. It left much of the Catholic world slightly confused, except for that dwindling minority still starstruck by Vatican II’s promise of a “new Pentecost.” Far be it for any faithful Catholic to call into question … Read more
When I was a child, I was a huge fan of the Beatles. I listened to their songs over and over again and bought several cassette tapes (Google it, young people!) of their music. I worshiped their genius like an idolater. One of my favorites was the song “Strawberry Fields Forever,” which was supposed to … Read more
This week the USCCB released a report with the bureaucratically self-important title, “National Synthesis of the People of God in the United States of America for the Diocesan Phase of the 2021-2023 Synod.” Essentially, it’s a report from the bishops summarizing the results of the past year’s synodal “listening sessions” held in dioceses throughout the … Read more
Speak only good things of the dead, the saying goes. The yoga division of The New York Times assumed a veritable Möbius strip of a position to attempt to write a laudable obituary for Rembert Weakland, the disgraced former archbishop of Milwaukee, who died the other day at the age of 95. It wasn’t entirely … Read more
In the classic The Spiritual Combat, the first weapon needed for sanctity is self-distrust. Or, as Chesterton said, “Complete self-confidence is not merely a sin; complete self-confidence is a weakness.” Some in Rome should think about this before they cause even more Catholics to question the Faith (or at least the Church). They—and we—should also … Read more
Over at The Lamp, an anonymous writer—a layman in the Archdiocese of Washington—has written movingly about the possibility that Cardinal Wilton Gregory will abolish the Extraordinary Form in his diocese. A group of Latin Mass-goers gathered outside Cardinal Gregory’s “Synodal Listening Session.” According to The Lamp, Among others who intervened was the mother of seven … Read more
It wasn’t long into my study of the sex abuse crisis in the Church that I realized that many or even most bishops customarily respond to a report about abuse 1) by feeling sorry for themselves that they have another mess on their hands; 2) by feeling sorry for the priest whose priesthood may be … Read more
The Vatican is currently conducting the trial of Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who stands accused of financial embezzlement and abuse of office regarding his involvement, with nine other actors, in the multi-million-dollar purchase of luxury London real estate. It remains to be seen whether Becciu will be found guilty in one of the most high-profile financial … Read more