Pope Francis is praising heroic medical staff and priests who contributed so greatly, often under difficult circumstances, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown. Last Saturday he welcomed Italy’s front-line medical and civil protection personnel from the coronavirus-ravaged region of Lombardy to the Vatican to thank them for their selfless work and “heroic” sacrifice. Their example of Read more
Conservative cardinal, Raymond Burke, has published a letter on his website saying access to Mass and the sacraments should be available even during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. “In considering what is needed to live, we must not forget that our first consideration is our relationship with God,” Burke wrote. “That is why it is essential Read more
For both admirers and critics, the personal authority and moral legacy of Pope Francis will be hanging in the balance this month. On Monday (NZ time) he will invite a gathering of bishops, men and women from religious orders, indigenous people and secular experts to think boldly about a remote but ecologically sensitive corner of Read more
Bazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes clarified the working document’s purpose for the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon. It is is not official church teaching, he says. It is a way for bishops to listen to the local church’s concerns. The working document ( also called the Instrumentum Laboris) “isn’t a document of the synod, it Read more
Pope Francis spoke openly for the first time this week about the possibility of a US Catholic conservative-led schism. His frank comments were made during a press conference while he was flying home after visiting Mozambique, Madagascar and Mauritius. There have been many schisms in the Church’s 2,000-year history, he noted. Although he said he Read more
Two cardinals are challenging the working document for next month’s synod of bishops on the pan-Amazonian region. Cardinals Walter Brandmüller and Raymond Burke have both written to fellow members of the College of Cardinals raising concerns about the document. “Some points…seem not only in dissonance with respect to the authentic teaching of the Church, but Read more
Catholics, especially those of a traditional bent, love and understand symbols. Someone as traditionalist and as media-savvy as Timothy Busch has to understand that whatever else was said during his Napa Institute’s sprawling conference at the end of July, the most visible symbol was Cardinal Raymond Burke, one of the most outspoken critics of Pope Read more
Next month a conference on the theme “This Catholic Moment” will be held at the Napa Institute, the so-called headquarters for the anti-Pope Francis resistance in the United States. John Meyer, the Executive Director of the Institute, says the conference will be an opportunity to discuss “Catholic renewal in a time of great crisis in Read more
Resisting large-scale Muslim immigration is a responsible exercise of one’s patriotism, Cardinal Raymond Burke told a pro-life, pro-family conference last week. While the church must be generous to “individuals that are not able to find a way of living in their own country,” this is not the case for many Muslim migrants “who are opportunists,” Read more
Political far right campaigner Steve Bannon, who is Donald Trump’s former chief strategist, has attacked Pope Francis over his anti-populism stance. Ramping up his message ahead of the European elections, Bannon said Francis should stay out of politics. “He’s the administrator of the church, and he’s also a politician. This is the problem,” Bannon – Read more