The same-sex blessings near Cologne Cathedral (pictured) were a public salute to scores of private ceremonies among European Catholics in recent years. The crowd waved rainbow flags and according to media reports, sang “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles. The mid-September rites included Catholic priests reciting blessings for same-sex and heterosexual couples and, Read more
In January, America published an article I wrote on the theme of inclusion in the life of the church. Since that time, the positions I presented have received both substantial support and significant opposition. The majority of those criticizing my article focused on its treatment of the exclusion of those who are divorced and remarried Read more
US Cardinal Robert McElroy is a heretic, hints a US Catholic bishop in an essay called ‘Imagining a Heretical Cardinal’. In his ‘First Things’ magazine article, conservative prelate and canon lawyer Thomas Paprocki (pictured) cites an unnamed cardinal’s views on how the Church should minister to LGBTQ people and divorced and remarried Catholics. While he Read more
Mention the name of any religion and the first reaction of contemporary, western, first world and secular society people will be to ask about its content: what do they believe? The emphasis is, at once, on a list of ideas about the universe, human life, purpose and what, if anything, is beyond the universe. Once Read more
Despite a postponed vote last month, a German prelate has said he is confident the country’s bishops will change Church rules to allow employment of remarried divorcees and men and women living in same-sex relationships, despite growing opposition to the move. Archbishop Stephan Burger of Freiburg im Breisgau said the German bishops’ conference “will revise” Read more
A Vatican department has taken the unusual step of issuing a public denial that it is preparing a document on the reception of Communion by Catholics who are divorced and remarried. The denial follows an article circulated by an Italian news agency claiming that Pope Francis had asked Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Read more