The Synod’s final document has been approved and immediately enacted by Pope Francis. Unlike previous synods, there will be no post-synodal letter. This decision clearly demonstrates the Pope’s vision of how consultation (decision-making) and actual decision-making should interact. The process has emphasised unity and harmony, though the Pope accepts that some topics saw considerable dissent. Read more
My St Christopher medal comes with me everywhere, Pope Francis says. He told the Italian army’s Transports and Materials Corps last Thursday that he was delighted they shared a devotion to the martyr St Christopher – he carries him everywhere and the Corps has had him as their patron since 1954. “I always carry a Read more
Mention the word sin these day and people can become quite prickly. Typical comments range from “There’s too much emphasis about sin”, “my sins put Jesus on the Cross”, “I’m unworthy”, “I’m a sinner” to “it’s all negative”. This guilt-based old religion mentality, ties us into a God who is tough as old boots and Read more
Pope Francis recently held an audience at the Vatican for members of Project Hope – a group of parents who accompany the spiritual and emotional healing of people suffering the consequences of having chosen abortion. The Project Hope initiative was established in 1999. It has since spread to most Latin American countries, offering help to Read more
Up and down again, back and forth, forwards and back again. This is how the Synod on Synodality proceeded over two long years at the round tables, above all with the explicit non-dispute over the church’s controversial issues that had been removed from it. These are serious and will determine the real significance of the Read more
On October 24, Pope Francis released his fourth encyclical, titled Dilexit nos (“He Loved Us”), dedicated to the Sacred Heart. Unlike the widespread political and media interest surrounding Laudato si’ in 2015 or even Fratelli tutti in 2020, this encyclical received little attention beyond Catholic circles. An encyclical’s impact takes time. In 2015, Laudato si’ Read more
Convicted Cardinal Angelo Becciu has suggested that the pope’s role in governing Vatican City should be reevaluated and that he should “no longer be head of state”. In a series of interviews aired on Belgian television, Becciu discussed Pope Francis’ role and his own conviction for fraud and embezzlement. Becciu, who served as the papal Read more
From the beginning, one of the most persistent charges against Pope Francis’s Synod of Bishops on Synodality, which got underway in 2021 and wrapped up last night [26 October] in Rome, is that the deck was stacked with progressive voices, creating an unrepresentative sense of the totality of global Catholic opinion. To cite a classic Read more
The first-ever annual report of the Vatican Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors states that New Zealand, Australia, the South Pacific Islands, North America and Europe have all created adequate structures to address abuse. The report notes that Africa, Asia and South America lag behind in creating these structures due to a lack of Read more
Transcript from Rita Cassella Jones Lecture at Fordham of September 17, 2024. As you know, I belonged to the initial Pontifical Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women. We were named in August 2016 and first met in November of that year. I traveled to Rome several days in advance of the scheduled Read more