Last weekend, millions of Twitter users saw Pope Francis appear on their feeds, modelling what seemed to be a custom Papal puffer coat. In reality, though, the head of the Catholic Church never wore that designer, Balenciaga-like jacket: The image was nothing more than a hyper-realistic A.I. generation. Behind this work of forgery was Pablo Read more
When I ask ordinary Catholics what they think of all the discussions about synodality and Pope Francis’ call for us to become a synodal Church, I usually get blank stares. Some assume that I am one of those academic types that enjoy asking irrelevant questions; others simply say that they haven’t got a clue about Read more
How did we learn to read? We might remember putting sounds to the letters of the alphabet and then trying to make those sounds into words. We struggled. We made mistakes. Then what happened? One day it all came together. We could read, but we didn’t know how it happened. Those words held hands with Read more
Though it was, in a sense, 530 years in the making, required two separate departments of the Roman Curia to address, and came a full eight months after demands burst into full public view during a high-profile papal trip to the New World, Thursday’s repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery by the Vatican may turn Read more
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is known to dislike the nickname Chippy, a hangover from his student days. Given the way he has chewed through Jacinda Ardern’s old policies, maybe we should instead call him the Wood Chipper: big, gnarly policy offcuts are fed in, and out comes a handy pile of pie-related photoshoots and small-target Read more
The short answer to this question is no. Gender is something that belongs to humans; God is beyond gender. But because we believe in a personal God, and people are gendered, some of us can’t help but envision God as having a gender. Throughout Christian tradition, believers have leaned heavily toward depicting God as male. Read more
Pope Francis has issued definitive rules for handling abuse complaints in a final version of the 2019 document, Vos Estis Lux Mundi. The definitive rules of Vos Estis, which take effect in May, add to the original document on several specific points: Along with complaints of abuse by clerics and religious, the policies are also Read more
It happened to me: I thought the image of the pope in a coat was real. Here’s my first excuse: I don’t really know much about popes. His holiness can be out there doing his things, and I can be over here doing mine, and our ecosystems never really cross. I think I just idly Read more
The Catholic Church in Germany has dominated the headlines so far in 2023, thanks to its controversial “synodal way,” which concluded this month with endorsements of same-sex blessings, women deacons, and “gender diversity.” Measured by international media attention alone, German Catholicism would appear to be a commanding presence on the world stage, pioneering radical changes Read more
The death of Cardinal George Pell this past January occurred at a critical moment in the life of the Church as its bishops consider how to respond to the call of Pope Francis in October 2021 for a synodal Church, based on communion, participation and mission. The news that the Australian cardinal had penned an Read more