The most critical shift emphasis since Vatican II is the appreciation and understanding of God’s calling for us laypeople. “They are the Church – co-responsible with bishops, priests, and religious for Christ’s mission on earth” writes Martin Work in “Laity” an introductory observation prefacing Apostolicam Actuositatem. (The decree on the laity). We are the People Read more
Recently, a handful of American Catholic bishops have issued statements questioning whether anyone who supports abortion rights should be receiving Communion, and journalists immediately pounced: Will President Joe Biden, they wanted to know, be denied Communion by the U.S. bishops’ conference because of his pro-choice position on abortion? Journalists, here’s your answer: This is a Read more
“There’s a short path that is long, and a long path that is short”. In the third seasons of the Netflix series “Shtisel,” an eminent ultra-Orthodox rabbi who heads a yeshiva in Jerusalem offers that bit of sage advice to a star student who is dealing with a life-and-death decision. Short paths tend to become Read more
What happens if a patient doesn’t die during a euthanasia attempt? That’s one of a number of ethical and legal questions being asked by palliative care experts who say we are woefully unprepared to introduce assisted dying. Senior nursing leaders are also concerned New Zealand won’t be ready when the law takes effect on 7 Read more
One reading of the Vatican’s same sex blessing statement is it has back-fired according to theologian Dr James Alison. “I’ve been rather encouraged, and particularly surprised how much more unworriedly critical a vast number of people, including cardinals and bishops have been”. He’s calling the Vatican’s same-sex blessing statement “a shot in the foot”. James Read more
Over the past decade in Christian theological circles, there’s been an explosion of concern for nonhuman animals. Not many people keep up with theological trends, so no shame if you’ve missed this one. But the fact is, while much of theology is by its very nature rather abstract, this one is relatable: Large majorities of Read more
On Sunday night (April 25), with his 90-year-old father’s oxygen saturation levels dipping below 85, Kishor Kumar was frantic. Hospitals in India’s most populous city had been turning him away, saying they had no oxygen beds. Finally, at 9:30 p.m., following a lead, Kumar showed up at a Sikh gurdwara in Airoli, just outside Mumbai, Read more
One of the buzz-phrases of Catholic theology – cited in virtually every document from the Vatican – is that the liturgy, and especially the Eucharist, is ‘the source and summit’ of the Christian life. The origins of the phrase are complex, but it enters mainstream Catholic discourse with the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy in Read more
Cîteaux with its nine-hundred-year history, its image of those most un-modern of being, monks, working with the hands, and the expectation of a unique, rather than mass-produced, flavour make it a winner. The success of the monks selling cheese on-line should not surprise us. We want our food to have a story! The mass-production of Read more
When Father John Wester received a call just before 8 a.m. Mass, he had no idea it would be the nuncio, the pope’s ambassador, phoning to tell him he would be the next auxiliary bishop of San Francisco. “I think my knees were knocking,” now-Archbishop Wester of Santa Fe, N.M., told America’s “Inside the Vatican” Read more