Church

“I am a queer Catholic. When will the church feel like home?” This question was posed by a young woman named Grace Doerfler in a recent essay in America magazine. As someone who once lived life as a gay man and who has now converted to the Catholic Church and found there a welcome home, … Read more

“No Place for Politics in Biden Communion Flap” “Pope Says Bishops Should be Pastors, Not Politicians” “Pope Warns Clergy Against Allowing Political Preferences to Enter Holy Communion Equation” “Vatican Warns U.S. Bishops About Denying Communion”  On Wednesday, September 15th, Pope Francis finally weighed in on the issue of denying the Eucharist to Catholic politicians who … Read more

COVID-19 restrictions limited attendance at the beatification Mass of Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński on Sunday in Warsaw, Poland, to seven thousand of the faithful. The beatification had already been delayed more than a year due to the virus lockdowns. But the restrictions and cloudy weather could not limit the sheer joy of the Cardinal’s countrymen, nor … Read more

According to the Western press, the main takeaway from Pope Francis’ address to the bishops of Slovakia was: limit your homilies to ten minutes! We know that the advice’s “theological note” (the degree of how authoritatively binding a teaching is) is de fide definita because (a) he’s said it before and (b) it was accompanied … Read more

After reading David Larson’s two-part series in Crisis on the horrific abuse that members of the clergy enacted on vulnerable adults, I became aware, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, of a troubling experience of sexual misconduct that occurred over ten years ago that I had completely forgotten and buried out of shame. In … Read more

I’ve heard a lot of gloating in the last few weeks, as Catholics of a certain sort enjoy the discomfiture of their brothers who attend the Latin Mass. Evil motives prompt those brothers, they say: hatred of Pope Francis, disdain for Vatican II, unease with women in the sanctuary, and a Right-wing politics that makes … Read more

As we all know, Twitter is a cesspool of the obtuse, the oblivious, and the opinionated. Nothing brings out this unfortunate trifecta more than a blindingly obvious statement of fact. Recently, I tweeted through the Crisis Magazine twitter account: “Vaccine Mandates are contrary to Catholic moral teaching.” Vaccine mandates are contrary to Catholic moral teaching. … Read more

You’re the new pastor over a church that offers a Mass that attracts hundreds of Millennial and Gen Z Catholics. That Mass has inspired lay apostolates for your parish, including one for men to serve at the altar. What do you do? Thank God for this gift that you inherited from your predecessor and do … Read more

The latest blast from Rome about the Tridentine Mass has roused all sorts of justified reactions. Many bishops—ranging from those concerned about souls to those worried about finances—have found various ways of ignoring it or setting it aside—at least for the moment. The more legal-minded have looked at different aspects, ranging from whether or not … Read more

Rod Dreher let a combination of ego and Twitter get the better of him in Rome a few days ago. Dreher met the Pope in the Vatican, one of those longish meet-and-greets where you briefly shake the Pope’s hand, maybe say a few words, get a picture snapped. Dreher took this moment to tell Francis, … Read more

“To everyone who has, more will be given; but to him who has not, even what he has shall be taken away.” Memes are important in our society. In our virtual public sphere, they often express with clarity the issues at stake in our public life. The first one I ever recall seeing was back … Read more

“Divisive” is a loaded word. Like the adjective “prejudiced,” calling someone “divisive” automatically puts him on the defensive. And so, being the first to call someone else “prejudiced” or “divisive” is to gain the upper hand in any argument. This has been happening lately with the issues of the Latin Mass and the COVID-19 vaccines. … Read more

[Editor’s Note: This is the second of a 2-part series on vulnerable adults being abused by clergy, and the poor response from Church officials to that abuse.] In Part 1, we discussed how Steve Hayner was sexually abused by two priests in New York, which left him with deep, lifelong scars. In Part 2, we’ll … Read more

[Editor’s Note: This is the first of a 2-part series on vulnerable adults being abused by clergy, and the poor response from Church officials to that abuse.] There is a lot of sympathy for minors who have experienced sexual abuse by priests—due to the nature of consent, legally and culturally, it’s almost universally seen as … Read more

There exists in many Catholic circles a general obsession with the Second Vatican Council, one that pervades every single aspect of Catholic life. Whether liberal or conservative, progressive or traditionalist—all must somehow reckon with Vatican II. How we worship, what we believe, how to view the world—all of these things are, for the average practicing … Read more

If we believe, then we believe in the Lord’s permissive will as well as His active: evil is permitted on the grounds that it will give rise to greater good. This belief, though one of the most difficult in all theology, is also a comforting one as we take stock of crises, Traditionis Custodes being … Read more

The Lord Jesus commanded us: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind (Greek: dianoia)” (Matthew 22:37). One of the ways the Church heeds the Lord’s command is by formulating doctrine. Doctrine is the result of the Church turning her mind in loving, … Read more

Thanks to the inspiration of Joseph Ratzinger’s writings on liturgy, and especially the “rising tide” effect of Summorum Pontificum, a grass-roots movement to restore sacredness to the modern rite of Paul VI was in full swing. It was not Vatican decrees or diocesan reforms that yielded better Masses, but rather the influence of priests who … Read more

No authentic pastoral program will include organizations in which homosexual persons associate with each other without clearly stating that homosexual activity is immoral. A truly pastoral approach will appreciate the need for homosexual persons to avoid the near occasions of sin…. [W]e wish to make it clear that departure from the Church’s teaching, or silence … Read more