A few weeks ago, a funeral was held for Cecilia Gentili in New York’s St Patrick’s Cathedral. The funeral was a cause of scandal and great controversy for several reasons. First, Gentili was a publicly professed atheist. Her stand-up comedy acts included jokes about blasphemous sex acts far too vulgar to put in print. Second, Read more
Dallas is the home to the world’s largest LGBTQ-friendly church, the Cathedral of Hope, which has 4,000 members. Last Sunday, Regent Empress Penny Cilyn was getting ready in her car at the parking lot. She was wearing a blue sequined dress, with her hair curled and styled like Dolly Parton. She was there to represent Read more
A headline at the National Catholic Register was funny, in a sad kind of way. “EWTN CEO Michael Warsaw: Catholic Journalists Are Called to Be ‘Truth Tellers,’ ” it read. Funny because Warsaw is CEO of the Register, and their understanding of “truth” is far more relativistic than most Catholic journalistic enterprises Warsaw’s network suffers Read more
If Pope Francis continues to serve as bishop of Rome for another two years, he may have a notable opportunity to refashion the U.S. Catholic hierarchy. Dozens of bishops, several in historically significant archdioceses, will be required by canon law to submit resignation letters upon turning 75. At least 13 archdioceses and 21 dioceses could Read more
Throughout history, there have been Church debates — either locally or with the powers at the Vatican — that have had far-reaching and long-term consequences on the lived and intellectual history of Catholicism. One of them, for instance, was the “Chinese rites” controversy in the 17thand 18thcenturies. This would influence the way the Church approached Read more
Why are some US bishops of the Catholic Church telling Catholics to avoid the newly approved Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine? Why did some U.S. Catholic leaders rush to issue warnings about this vaccine even though the Vatican has already said that it can be morally acceptable to receive it? Most importantly, why did these Read more
New Zeland is not free from the culture wars that plague the United States. A Black Lives Matter t-shirt sparked a fistfight on the steps of a small-town New Zealand church. John Whyte and his wife Jess wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts to church that Sunday in December 2019. “Why are you wearing such an Read more
Next year New Zealand will hold public referenda to decide whether to legalise assisted suicide and recreational marijuana. Separately, parliament is considering a bill that would decriminalise abortion. Simultaneously tackling all three could “foster an already growing culture war in New Zealand,” said Bryce Edwards, a political commentator and lecturer at Victoria University in Wellington. Read more
On Sunday, Father Federico Lombardi and Father Thomas Rosica issued a joint statement disputing one of the claims Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò made in his recently published letter. Their statement is based on a hand-written record of a meeting they had with Viganò. Lombardi is the former director of the Holy See Press Office and Read more
Conservative Christians in America are enjoying fresh winds of political favor. In his first month in office, President Trump upheld his promise to nominate a conservative Supreme Court justice. Last week, his administration rescinded former guidelines allowing transgender students to use the public school bathrooms of their choice. And evangelical leaders report having direct access Read more