Parliament’s sanctioning of same-sex marriage this year has prompted galloping expectations, not least where churches are involved. One has been tested in the Human Rights Review Tribunal by the Gay and Lesbian Clergy Anti-Discrimination Society on behalf of Eugene Sisneros, an events co-ordinator at St Matthew-in-the-City who claimed he was rejected for a priest training Read more
If a Las Vegas casino had opened a betting line eight months ago on the likelihood that within a year the most popular figure on the planet would be the pope, one has to imagine the odds would have been awfully long. Yet that’s basically today’s situation, as Francis continues to garner acclaim and admiration Read more
Somewhere in purgatory there must be a very large room filled with artists and writers doing time for the bad paintings, statues, and biographies of female saints they produced during their lifetime. I do not want this to be the case. Yet, when I think about all the images of consumptive 14-year-old girls that adorned Read more
In The Unquiet Grave Cyril Connelly, the 20th century Anglo-Irish critic, writer, and editor, having acknowledged the existence of the thousands of people like him (“…Liberals without a belief in progress, Democrats who despise their fellow-men, Pagans who still live by Christian morals, Intellectuals who cannot find the intellect sufficient—unsatisfied Materialists…”), concludes nonetheless that “there can be no Read more
The effort of some of our Catholic friends on the right to question or object or contextualize to the point of gutting the obvious import or even to demean Pope Francis’ happy penchant for speaking frankly continues. They rightly perceive that something different is happening in the church under the leadership of our new Holy Read more
In preparing to publish their historic 12,000-word interview with Pope Francis, the editors at America magazine cut an important sentence from his answer about the role of women in the church: “It is necessary to broaden the opportunities for a stronger presence of women in the church.” America editor in chief Jesuit Fr. Matt Malone Read more
Recently I had a great opportunity to know the reality of migrants from Myanmar living on the Myanmar-Thai border. In Ranong, I taught English in a learning centre and I was amazed by the children’s interest in learning and by their respect for their teachers. I also realized that learning English and Thai can make Read more
I have a confession. I’m having a tough time adjusting to Pope Francis. I admit that I’m a B16 fan girl and I’m still getting over Pape Bene’s understandable departure. It’s like when your best friend moves far away and no matter how hard you try, you can’t help but compare all your other friends Read more
The one certain dimension of US demographics these days is that the fastest growing segment of the American population is comprised of people above the age of 65. We, and all our institutions, as a result, are a greying breed. At the same time, we are, in fact, the healthiest, longest lived, most educated, most Read more
Something extraordinary is happening in English churches. Imagine you arrived at an unfamiliar church just as the service was starting and you heard: “Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid…” Right, you’d think, CofE, Book of Common Prayer. But this is the beginning of Read more