There is a riddle among priests that I have heard on every continent I have ever visited (all but Antarctica). The question is: “What are the three things God doesn’t know?” The third of the answers is: “What will the Jesuits be up to next?” Certainly much of the world is curious to know what Read more
As anyone who paid attention in history class knows, when Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés landed in what’s now Mexico in 1519, he promptly scuttled his ships, thereby leaving his men no choice but to press on in conquest of the Aztec empire. For centuries, that rash act has loomed as an object lesson in total Read more
The Vatican is disputing the accuracy of comments attributed to Pope Francis on priestly celibacy and the extent of paedophilia in the clergy. On July 13, Rome daily La Repubblica ran an article by its former editor Eugenio Scalfari, based on an interview he did with the Pope on July 10. The Pope reportedly described Read more
The Vatican has refused a royal commission request that it hand over all information relating to child sex abuse committed by priests in Australia. The head of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Justice Peter McClellan, told a victims’ group he had written to the Vatican on the matter. He sought Read more
The Vatican has officially recognised the International Association of Exorcists, which has 250 member priests in 30 countries. Last month, the Congregation for Clergy officially recognised the association, whose members perform ceremonies to “liberate the faithful from demons”. The association was introduced in Italy in 1991 by veteran exorcist Fr Gabriele Amorth to share experiences Read more
Despite numerous controversies over dismissing gay Catholics from church posts and the U.S. hierarchy’s campaign against same-sex marriage, Catholic leaders have carefully, if quietly, avoided doing anything to block gay couples from having their children baptised. But a move by a bishop in Wisconsin to route all such decisions through his office is raising questions Read more
I would venture to say that Pope Francis and the comic genius Groucho Marx could agree on one of Groucho’s famous one liners: “I would never join a club that would have me as a member.” Though the pope may never have heard the line, he would know what Groucho meant. Groucho’s humour had an instinctive Read more
To hear Cardinal Walter Kasper tell it, he became the pope’s point man for reform in the Catholic Church thanks to a bit of serendipity, or, if you will, Providence, before anyone knew that Francis was going to be the next Roman pontiff. The genesis of their partnership, Kasper recalled during a recent trip to Read more
It’s clear that Pope Francis has a style and approach to his job that contrasts sharply with those of his predecessors over the last 50 years. The frequently asked question is whether there is substance behind the style and if so, what does it look like? Traces of what he draws on are there to Read more