Posts Tagged ‘US Bishops’

Vatican ambassador urges US bishops to embrace synodality

Thursday, November 16th, 2023

Cardinal Christophe Pierre has been apostolic nuncio to the United States since 2016 and, at Pope Francis’ request, he will continue in this role for the foreseeable future, he told America’s Vatican correspondent in an exclusive interview in Rome in early October. After graduating from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains Vatican diplomats, in 1977, Read more

US needs around 34 new bishops by 2025

Thursday, March 23rd, 2023

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

US bishops need to acknowledge collateral damage from Dobbs win

Monday, November 14th, 2022

Just war theory requires that combatants have not only a just cause, but also that they wage their war in a just way. Thus, Catholic teaching about conflict condemns direct attacks on civilians or even the disproportionate killing of civilians as collateral damage in an attack on a military target. In other words, you cannot Read more

Pope: Bishops must handle Communion debate as shepherds, not with censures

Thursday, September 16th, 2021

The debate about denying Communion to politicians who support abortion must be handled in a pastoral way, not by public condemnations that seek to “excommunicate” Catholics who are not in line with church teaching, Pope Francis said. During his return flight from Bratislava, Slovakia, Sept. 15, the pope said that while there is no question Read more

Six suggestions for the Catholic bishops’ document on the Eucharist

Thursday, September 9th, 2021
document on the eucharist

The U.S. bishops are working on a document on the Eucharist, which could be very helpful if they do it right. The chances are slim. The origins of the document go back to the bishops’ fight with pro-choice Catholic politicians, such as John Kerry, over the legalization of abortion. Some bishops, like Cardinal Raymond Burke, Read more

Who are the bishops pushing Communion denial efforts?

Monday, June 14th, 2021

When Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the disgraced former papal nuncio to the United States, released an unprecedented and soon discredited letter in 2018 alleging Pope Francis’ complicity in covering up for former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s history of abuse, San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone came to Viganò’s defence. Despite Viganò’s shocking call for Pope Francis’ resignation, Read more

Can the US church manage the synodal path?

Thursday, May 27th, 2021
managing the synodal path

Pope Francis’ decision to postpone and widen the planned 2022 synod is extraordinary and invites everyone to stop and take a deep breath. The planned subject — “For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission” — remains the same but the new means adopted are now more intrinsically suited to such a topic. The Synod Read more

How not to talk about vaccines: Culture war vs common good

Monday, March 8th, 2021

Why are some US bishops of the Catholic Church telling Catholics to avoid the newly approved Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine? Why did some U.S. Catholic leaders rush to issue warnings about this vaccine even though the Vatican has already said that it can be morally acceptable to receive it? Most importantly, why did these Read more

Is it realistic to expect Joe Biden to ‘convert’ everyone to the Catholic view on abortion?

Monday, March 8th, 2021
joe biden convert abortion

It has puzzled me a long time why Catholics are so much more engaged with the abortion issue than members of other Christian churches. All Churches start their response to abortion from the same baseline – the Commandment “thou shalt not kill”. Yet they do not all arrive at the same destination. Why is this? Read more

Abortion, Church and State: may US bishops hope for change of heart from President Biden?

Thursday, March 4th, 2021
secular concerns about abortion

Should a secular state be concerned with the issue of abortion and if so, in what way? May the Church appeal to secular leaders, including Catholics, to protect women and children from a practice increasingly funded and vigorously promoted both by governments and by non-governmental bodies? In a letter on behalf of the US Bishops Read more