You’ve read the Amazon synod’s neo-pagan, pantheistic Instrumentum Laboris, relishing Pope Francis’s “mantra” that “everything is connected” (n. 25). You’ve reread Laudato Si, letting yourself be pierced by “the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (n. 49). But you still want to delve deeper into the spirit of the Amazon synod. … Read more
Shortly after the youth synod began, Edward Pentin—the authoritative chronicler of the family synod’s rigging—reported that an Italian cardinal close to Pope Francis had prophesied a great “surprise,” convinced that the pope would “for sure invent something.” Pentin said some sources had indicated that the final document’s main substance was in fact already written—hence the … Read more
Reading through the Instrumentum Laboris (IL)—the working document for the Youth Synod—one gets the impression that the biggest challenge young people face in life is discovering their sexuality. Fortunately, the Synod Fathers stand ready to “accompany” youth on their journey of self-discovery wherever it may lead. The bishops have particular solicitude for LGBT youth who … Read more
There has been much commentary about Pope Francis’s self-imposed “silence” regarding Archbishop Carlo Viganò’s allegation that Francis had lifted Pope Benedict’s sanctions against sexual predator Theodore McCarrick, and then made the ex-cardinal a trusted—and very influential—advisor. It might be, however, that Francis did, in fact, give a resounding—and contemptuous—reply to the allegation, just three days … Read more
When Cardinal Carlo Caffarra was given the responsibility of starting Pope John Paul II’s Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, he wrote a letter to Sister Lucia de Santos of Fatima asking for prayers. Many Catholics by now are familiar with Sister Lucia’s response to Cardinal Caffarra’s letter in the form of this apocalyptic … Read more
The Church gave us a wonderful grace in the midst of the fourteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops session on the theme of the vocation and mission of the family in the contemporary world with the canonization of Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Thérèse of Liseux. They are the … Read more
Same-sex attraction is a kind of spiritual tapeworm. All such disordered sexual inclinations—toward adultery, fornication, masturbation, pornography, etc.—have that in common (so, no, I’m not singling out SSA). These temptations to lust are parasites upon our human nature. That’s the first problem. The second problem is that a vast majority of us—including me—are too emotionally, … Read more