Posts Tagged ‘Francis’

Book review: an intellectual history of Francis

Monday, November 20th, 2017

A number of people close to Francis have been looking forward eagerly to a book out this week in Italy that is sure to lay to rest the myth that somehow, he lacks the philosophical and theological ballast to be pope. Massimo Borghesi’s dazzling ‘intellectual biography’ of Jorge Mario Bergoglio shows that this criticism – Read more

Pope Francis is more evolution than revolution

Thursday, October 19th, 2017

ROME – Two stories about Pope Francis over the last few days have elicited either praise or criticism, depending on one’s point of view, but also pivoting on a perception that’s actually questionable: To wit, that once again, this maverick pontiff is breaking the mold. The first story came on Thursday, when Francis spoke at Read more

How Pope Francis reframes the politics of being ‘pro-life’

Monday, September 18th, 2017

Not that long ago conservative politicians in the United States could get away with touting their “pro-life” bona fides solely because of their opposition to abortion. Political leaders on the right who slashed safety nets for the poor, denied climate change and made life harder for pregnant women rarely felt any real heat from bishops, never mind Read more

Our common home really needs your help!

Monday, May 8th, 2017

“A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system,” warns Pope Francis in his landmark environmental encyclical Laudato Si (“On Care for Our Common Home”). Indeed, the scientific consensus is very solid. According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), “97 percent or more of Read more

Don’t blame Francis for the confusion

Thursday, March 23rd, 2017

Some self-declared Catholic traditionalists have been complaining bitterly that there is much confusion and division within the Catholic Church. They blame it all on Pope Francis and especially on the challenging program he has launched for ecclesial renewal and reform. In doing so, they are de facto opposing the pope—especially his more merciful and pastoral Read more

A guide for processing the latest bombshell from Pope Francis

Monday, March 13th, 2017

So many aspects of Pope Francis’s personality either delight or consternate people, depending on their perspective, that it seems almost reductive to single out one element. If you were going to put all those things on a list, however, pride of place almost certainly would have to go to his endless capacity for soundbites. Time Read more

Pope Francis’ message for Lent 2017

Monday, February 27th, 2017

Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ’s victory over death. This season urgently calls us to conversion. Christians are asked to return to God “with all their hearts” (Joel 2:12), to refuse to settle for mediocrity and to grow in friendship with the Lord. Jesus is the Read more

Pope Francis: does what he talks about

Monday, February 20th, 2017

Whenever Pope Francis talks about the need to welcome immigrants, to build bridges not walls, and to invest in the countries from which people are fleeing, critics inevitably will ask, “Okay, but what are you doing about it?” From snarky observations about the walls around Vatican city to wry observations about all the under-utilized ecclesiastical Read more

Pope Francis: letter to a dying girl

Friday, December 9th, 2016

ROME-On the night of October 11, 1962, thousands of people made their way to St. Peter’s Square to celebrate the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, called for by St. Pope John XXIII. Unable to ignore the crowd, and before “off-the-cuff” remarks were simply what popes did, he improvised the most famous speech of his Read more