Imagine that someone deliberately locks themselves into a small room. They then let it be known that they can’t discuss something with you … because they are locked in a small room. And their justification takes the form: “Can’t because we say we can’t because we said we can’t”. This act of communication is called Read more
Pope Francis opened Holy Week celebrations the Palm Sunday ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica. “For the second time we are living in the context of the pandemic. “Last year we were more shocked, this year we are more tried, and the economic crisis has become heavier,” he said after reciting the Angelus at the end Read more
I’m not a Catholic. Unless you can genetically inherit religion I am most certainly not Catholic. My Irish grandmother was Catholic, but I think she had God whipped out of her by the nuns at Erskine College at age 13. She was one of the naughtiest girls in her year, and the reckless auburn-haired nymph Read more
A new Vatican statement that has provoked widespread criticism for sharply rejecting the blessing of same-sex unions is the latest example of why it’s hard for many people to take the Catholic Church’s own professed values of equality and dignity seriously. The decree, which notes God “cannot bless sin,” reiterates traditional Catholic teaching on sexuality. Read more
Pope Francis’ push for synodality inside the Church coincides chronologically with the rise of populist leaders and the crisis of democracy on the outside. Synodality, therefore, has an ad extra dimension. It is an ecclesial response to populist leaders who “hijack” religion by sowing division and exploiting the anger of those who feel excluded, as Read more
There is a scene in George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, where Winston, the rebellious protagonist, gets ambushed while helping fix his neighbour Mrs. Parsons’ sink by her unruly children. “Traitor!” they yelled while dressed in the uniform of the Junior Spies, “Thought-criminal!” A mere nine and seven years old, they adored the Party, and would Read more
When Hine Joseph was 18 years old, she was living on the street and carrying a penknife for protection. Three years later, she is securely housed in a flat managed by VisionWest Community Trust, in West Auckland, and says her biggest goal is finding a regular job and, one day, moving into a place she Read more
Once upon a time, Arthur Miller said, “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” These days, many media outlets are talking only to segments of the population. For the New Zealand media, 2021 has been a year of cancellations. Finance minister Grant Robertson cancelled his weekly MagicTalk interview slot with Peter Read more
Pope Francis, who made headlines in the first months of his papacy by responding, “Who am I to judge?” when asked about gay priests, has now signed off on a Vatican decree that priests cannot bless same-sex unions since God “cannot bless sin.” The decree, issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Read more
Even though there is no congregation at Sunday Mass, the community at St. Benedict the African Parish in Chicago has never been so close. As Chicago entered a strict lockdown in March 2020, young members of the community helped the parish transition to broadcasting its liturgies and some of its weekly offerings, like Bible studies, Read more