Bishop Charles Drennan has called for theologians to engage with the science that says sexual orientation is neither a matter of choice nor of conditioning. In his intervention at the synod on the family in Rome last week, Bishop Drennan appealed for mercy for a particular category of people who feel rejection – persons with Read more
Mercy towards those not following Church teaching is emerging as a prominent theme at the synod on the family. According to a media briefing on Saturday, another prominent issue in the first week of synod discussions was the Church’s vision on the indissolubility of marriage. Vatican Radio journalist Romilda Ferrauto told the briefing that the Read more
It is true that the issue of “remarried divorcees” is mainly a Western concern. It is also true that it has drawn a great deal of media attention. On the one hand, Instrumentum laboris, the summary of topics for discussion at the Synod, presented a highly superficial view. On the other hand, the issue is Read more
With the approach of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy I would like to focus on several points which I believe require attention to enable the celebration of the Holy Year to be for all believers a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God. It is indeed my wish that the Jubilee be a Read more
There will be tension at October’s synod on the family between an emphasis on mercy and a notion of cheap grace, a new US bishop says. Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego told the National Catholic Reporter that the “theology of mercy is saying is that the essential attribute of God in relation to us Read more
Cardinal Walter Kasper says Pope Francis wanted him to raise the question of Communion for the divorced and remarried, but this doesn’t mean papal approval. The cardinal has long promoted a proposal to allow divorced-and-civilly-remarried Catholics to receive Communion after a period of repentance. He raised the topic during a talk at a consistory of Read more
In a formal act, Pope Francis has called on the Church to refashion itself as a place, not of judgment or condemnation, but of pardon and merciful love. The Pope did this in an official Bull of Indiction convoking the extraordinary jubilee Year of Mercy, which will run from December 8, 2015, to November 20, Read more
A cardinal touted as the next pope has said that while some Christians are being martyred for their faith, some in the West are trying to water down the Gospel. Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah said this in a book length interview “Dieu ou Rien” (God or Nothing) published in France last month. Italian Vatican commentator Read more
Cardinal Walter Kasper hopes this year’s synod on the family will develop the Church’s tradition in the area of pastoral support of divorced people. Cardinal Kasper was speaking at the England launch of his book “Pope Francis’s Revolution of Tenderness and Love”. Bishops attending the synod, scheduled for October 4-25, will be called to discern Read more
The Extraordinary Jubilee promulgated by Francis will be the 65th in history. The first was announced by Sixtus V in 1585. The “special” Holy Year does not alter the recurrence of Ordinary Jubilees. The last Pope to open the (cemented shut) Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica for an universal Extraordinary Jubilee was the future Read more