Addressing the Synod Assembly on Saturday evening, Pope Francis highlighted how the Final Document, written over the course of the 2nd Session of the Synod on Synodality that began on Oct. 2 following a process of listening and dialogue, is the fruit of over three years of listening to the People of God.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Before this month’s synod at the Vatican, Pope Francis took the question of allowing women deacons off the agenda, referring this and other hot-button issues to study groups. That distressed many Catholic activists. Leaving aside this matter of ordained ministry, sisters in religious orders and lay women could fill many influential church posts monopolized by male priests.
Read More(ANALYSIS) There is a “Demos II” epistle from another anonymous cardinal — criticizing Pope Francis and describing seven tasks facing the next pontiff.
Read More(REVIEW) “The Chosen” remains one of the strongest pieces of faith-based content being produced these days. The fourth season is, on balance, one of the strongest to date despite some flaws. Hopefully, the groundwork being laid in these middle episodes will feel worth it in the future.
Read More(OPINION) What St. John Paul II taught was so wondrously beautiful that it took listeners some time to begin to grasp the significance of it. One of the first was his biographer, George Wiegel. He described the theology of the body as “a kind of theological time-bomb set to go off with dramatic consequences … perhaps in the 21st century.” I hope he’s right.
Read MoreThe Vatican’s meeting of bishops — the second phase of a multi-year effort that began in 2021 known as the Synod on Synodality — concluded amid a growing debate regarding a number of key issues. The meetings this month centered around the future of the Catholic church and has put progressives and conservatives at odds when it comes to doctrinal issues.
Read More(OPINION) With a flair for the dramatic, Sayers required British mystery writers to take an oath, which included: “Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them, using those wits which it may please you to bestow upon them and not placing reliance on, or making use of, Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo-Jumbo, Jiggery-Pokery, Coincidence or the Act of God?”
Read More(ANALYSIS) The pope’s recent appointment of Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernandez as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has been a very big story this month. The appointment could influence the future direction of the church and Pope Francis’ legacy. This pontiff very much wants to leave a lasting impression on the global church, in part acting through the upcoming synod, and Fernandez could help shape it.
Read More(OPINION) National news coverage regarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi being banned by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone from taking Holy Communion because of her continued support — in words and deeds — for abortion rights spanned from very good to baffling and very poor.
Read More(OPINION) A recent decision requiring Texas to grant a convicted murderer his Baptist pastor’s audible prayers and comforting touch during his execution was a rare moment in which activists on both sides of America’s culture wars cheered for “religious liberty” — a freedom that until recently didn’t require cynical “scare quotes” that suggest uncertainty.
Read MoreEbenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga. has a long history in the Black church. It was the spiritual home of the civil rights leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. It is now the home of the state’s first Black senator – the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at the church.
Read More(REVIEW) The new Netflix documentary “American Gospel: Christ Alone” navigates the theological mechanics of the Prosperity Gospel movement with surprising nuance and accuracy while avoiding the temptation to aggregate all of American Christianity, or even all of American Evangelicalism, under a single, pejorative header.
Read More(OPINION) Too often, the faith community reduces life to a small handful of topics: the gospel, discipleship, giving, kingdom, relationships, mission, community. These are necessary topics. They’re just too few. The Bible also has a lot to say about more practical matters from business to tourism.
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