At the recent Synod on Synodality, African bishops were instrumental in blocking moves to grant greater doctrinal autonomy to national episcopal conferences. Archbishop Andrew Nkea (pictured) of Bamenda, Cameroon, confirmed the African delegation’s satisfaction with the synod’s final report, which Pope Francis adopted. African bishops sought to prevent any shift in doctrinal authority to local Read more
The recent Vatican letter to the German Bishops’ Conference highlights the tension between a synodal, inclusive approach to Church governance involving bishops and laity and the traditional structures of clerical authority. This letter, and the broader debate it represents, is emblematic of a Church at a crossroads. It’s a Church grappling with the need to Read more
The presidents of Africa’s bishops’ conferences have stated they will not adopt the language of movements fighting for the destruction of the family. In a preparatory meeting in Accra, Ghana ahead of October’s synod on the family, the bishops stated “we must begin from the faith, reaffirm it and live it for the sake of Read more
Anybody who’s seen the movie “Pulp Fiction” probably recalls the scene where John Travolta explains to Samuel L. Jackson that in France, McDonald’s calls the quarter-pounder a “Royale with cheese” because, in light of the metric system, the French wouldn’t know what a quarter-pounder is. (It turns out that the movie got the French slightly Read more