Why on earth do we stay in a Church in which clerics commit sexual abuse? The easiest answer is realism. We tell ourselves that some sexual predators are drawn to seminaries, just as paedophiles seek out institutions that work with children, regardless of whether they’re religious or not. Public schools, choirs, scouts: the cancer grows Read more
When you have children, everyone tells you that your life is going to change. They mean this in both the best and the worst possible ways: There are the predictable losses (lost sleep, lost money, lost time) as well as the wholly unexpected gains of loving a child beyond reason, beyond yourself. What people do Read more
Intercommunion – enabling non-Catholics to receive the Eucharist – is to be discussed in Rome. Although several news sources say Francis has already rejected a draft plan to allow non-Catholics who are married to Catholics to receive Communion in certain circumstances, it seems this is not the case. German Bishops’ Conference president, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Read more
A Swedish Lutheran cathedral is about to host a Catholic Mass for the first time since the Reformation. The Lutheran Church of Sweden has offered the cathedral as a temporary place of worship to the Catholic parish of St Thomas. St Thomas’s will be closed for major renovation for several months. Read more
Catholic groups meeting in Canberra last Friday have demanded a change Catholic Church leadership. They say the current leaders are “locked in a misogynistic and unaccountable culture” that has failed to adequately respond to the child sexual abuse scandal and is denying the need for urgent reform. Read more
The crowning jewel of “America’s Catholic church”—that is, of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception—was finally unveiled and blessed yesterday. The ceremony presided over by Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington and the director of the Board of Trustees of the Shrine, symbolically marked the completion of the largest Catholic Read more
I don’t know about you, but I never realized how many male sexual predators held positions of power in government, the arts and the media until the tsunami of headlines this month. It is demoralizing to know that thousands of women have endured shame and great pain in silence for years. In no way do Read more
Each year the holidays bring with them an increase in both the consumption of alcohol and concern about drinking’s harmful effects. Alcohol abuse is no laughing matter, but is it sinful to drink and make merry, moderately and responsibly, during a holy season or at any other time? As a historical theologian, I researched the role that pious Christians played in Read more
A non-sectarian Museum of the Bible opened in Washington on Saturday. The US$500 million museum’s aim is to entertain and educate visitors about the Bible’s history and significance. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Israeli Ambassador to the United States and the museum’s co-founder, evangelical businessman Steve Green, were at the opening. Wuerl spoke on behalf of Read more
The Catholic Church worldwide is passing through an era of historical transformation, a decisive shift in numbers towards the Global South – to Asia, Africa and Latin America. Many are aware of this trend as an abstract fact, but we are scarcely coming to terms with the implications for Church life, for the composition of Read more