In September 2019, returning from a visit to Africa, Pope Francis reflected on the flight home to Rome on the tensions that were tearing at the unity of the Church. Threat of schism “I pray that there will be no schism,” the Pope told the Vatican press corps, “but I am not afraid.” Since then, Read more
I confess I fell asleep several times reading the new working document for the Synod on Synodality, which will have its second session this October. The agenda The working document, or Instrumentum Laboris as it is officially known, sets the agenda for the next iteration of the synod. The first convening occurred last October after Read more
The working document, or instrumentum laboris, for next October’s meeting of the Synod of Bishops is “taking up again” the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on the church by focusing on the missionary responsibility of all the baptized in the synodal church. That is what Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich (pictured), the relator general for next Read more
Imagine a world where AI is omnipresent. It occupies your home, your car, your workplace, your pocket. Even your mind. Every aspect of your daily routine is seamlessly integrated with this sophisticated technology. It anticipates your needs, completes your thoughts, deciphers your emotions, plays your favorite songs, drafts your emails and even suggests your next Read more
I was in for a dull sort of day when my feet hit the floor that morning, but by mid-afternoon, my world had turned upside down. My sister-in-law and her husband visited to tell us the tumours in her brain hadn’t shrunk following rounds of radiation and chemotherapy. She died three weeks short of the Read more
When Pope Francis called for a worldwide consultation of lay Catholics about their concerns as part of the Synod on Synodality, U.S. bishops responded less than enthusiastically. Instead, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put its time, effort and money into a national programme called the Eucharistic Revival. Eucharistic Revival It was not impossible to Read more
July and August used to be downtime at the Vatican. That changed in 2013 after Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires was elected Bishop of Rome. The Argentine Jesuit, now best known as Pope Francis, immediately broke the custom set by his predecessors and did not take a summer holiday. That meant that no one Read more
The agenda for the next round of the Synod on Synodality, scheduled for Oct. 4-27 in Rome, will focus on female leadership and the inclusion of women in the Catholic Church, according to a document released Tuesday (July 9) by the Vatican. The “Instrumentum Laboris,” or “working document,” is an initial plan for the second Read more
As accusations of sexual abuse have mounted against Slovenian Father Marko Rupnik, his art has come under a microscope. Recently attentive observers noted a curiosity – the face of the artist himself, along with two of his closest friends and allies, appears in an obscure section of perhaps his most famous work. Rupnik’s mosaic Rupnik’s Read more
“Time is running out” as famine, disease and fighting close in on the population, with no end in sight, said U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Clementine Nkweta-Salami. “The international community cannot stand by as this crisis spirals out of control, as the noose of this conflict tightens its stranglehold on the civilian population,” Read more