For the most part, religious Americans say their LGBTQ neighbors should be free of discrimination when they are at work, in public or at home. This is true even among groups that oppose same-sex marriage. One place they disagree is over whether businesses — such as cake bakers or other vendors — ever have the Read more
Not long ago, every U.S. cleric — bishop, priest and deacon — received a reprint of Cardinal Raymond Burke’s 2007 essay from Periodica de Re Canonica, the annual 700-page canon law journal of the Gregorian University in Rome. Burke documents the church’s history of legislating against giving Communion to persons “obstinately persevering in manifest grave Read more
The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation each year on March 25. The date was chosen from the very beginning for two reasons: it falls nine months before we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, and it conforms to an ancient belief that God became incarnate during the spring equinox. However, our liturgical texts Read more
Picasso is getting old. His works are no longer relevant to the younger generations. Admittedly he was a genius. But this genius is slowly going out of fashion, and he could also be subjected to questions. Woke culture is coming. Universal contrition is scheduled. Colonial Picasso! Patriarchal Picasso! White male Picasso! As we are rewriting Read more
If Pope Francis continues to serve as bishop of Rome for another two years, he may have a notable opportunity to refashion the U.S. Catholic hierarchy. Dozens of bishops, several in historically significant archdioceses, will be required by canon law to submit resignation letters upon turning 75. At least 13 archdioceses and 21 dioceses could Read more
Polarisation is exhausting largely because it seems hopeless and also because it gets progressively worse. As measured in surveys, Americans’ negative attitudes toward political parties other than their own have increased dramatically in recent decades and at a much faster pace than in other countries. These entrenched divisions simultaneously increase the vehemence of our arguments Read more
A year ago, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle seemed to enter a strange sort of limbo. It began with the publication of the new Vatican constitution, Praedicate evangelium, on March 19, 2022. Up to then, the Filipino cardinal had served as the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, the powerful curial department responsible Read more
At a recent dinner with the Vicar General of an Australian diocese, he quipped, “to the parish priest who has everything, give him another parish.” The five priests seated with him laughed at this. But, as the conversation turned to the realities of our failing diocesan infrastructures, the tone became more serious. Two priests were Read more
Hunting season doesn’t normally begin in most places in the United States until the autumn. But some self-appointed US Catholic intelligentsia members apparently agreed that, this year, it would start on March 13th. That was the day we marked the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ election to the papacy. And while writers generally used the Read more
Megan Dykes’s TikTok account is a dark place. On a recent Thursday morning, she opened the ‘For You’ page on the app and lingered over the first video that popped up: a clip of a young woman joking about wanting to cut herself. Dykes (pictured) swiped her thumb and watched another similarly gloomy post, and Read more