The solution has been found to save the Church from its predicted demise, we need more “sacrality”, a return to the Traditional Latin Mass, and a “more traditional discourse” on social issues. Then all will be right with the Catholic world… Obviously, I’m just caricaturing. But this was the tenor of some of the comments Read more
French President Emmanuel Macron made a promise last Monday while visiting Mont-Saint-Michel for the millennium celebration of the iconic hilltop abbey in Normandy. He said the State would help villages and municipalities throughout France finance the upkeep and restoration of their empty churches. As part of his commitment, the president intends to launch a new Read more
Is John Paul II really a saint? It may sound like a strange question, given that he was canonized in 2014. But it is one that some people are asking after a Polish television broadcast an investigative report that criticized the late pope for his alleged mishandling of clergy sex abuse cases from 1964-1978 when Read more
Where do young Catholics stand? To the right, very right, or very left? It’s a fascinating question. A couple of recent articles in France have contemplated the so-called resurgence of left-wing Catholics, who are identified as young, ecologically sensitive, and – some of them – even very left-wing. They are also distant from their rather Read more
It is no fun being a bishop these days. After the recent resignations of Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon and Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris, and then the controversial legacies left by Archbishop Jean-Pierre Cattenoz in Avignon and Bishop Emmanuel Lafont in Cayenne (French Guyana), as well as the severe sanction that forced the Diocese Read more
Should we be happy with the conviction of Cardinal Barbarin? Several journalists have asked me. As the author of a book on the Preynat scandal (Histoire d’une silence) who was seeking to understand how the Church managed to remain silent and in denial so long, the answer is undoubtedly, yes. The reason is because the Read more