Nearly 1500 academics in Poland have written an appeal against “slandering and rejecting John Paul II” after the publication of the McCarrick report by the Vatican on November 10. The report documented the rise of disgraced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was laicized by Pope Francis in 2019 after he was credibly accused of abusing Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Pope John Paul II’
Polish bishop laments failure to elevate St John Paul II
Thursday, October 15th, 2020The president of Poland’s Bishops’ Conference has said the Vatican rejected his request to have St John Paul II declared a Doctor of the Church and patron saint of Europe. Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan said most bishops worldwide also ignored the proposal. He said: “The title of Doctor of the Church is reserved for Read more
Fr Ernesto Cardenal, Liberation theologian disciplined by JPII: Obituary
Thursday, March 5th, 2020
Ernesto Cardenal, the renowned poet and Roman Catholic cleric who became a symbol of revolutionary verse in Nicaragua and around Latin America, and whose suspension from the priesthood by St. John Paul II lasted over three decades, died Mar. 1. He was 95. Known for his trademark black beret and loose white peasant shirts, the Read more
Mehmet Ali Agca relieved John Paul II didn’t die. He has new life caring for cats
Monday, February 17th, 2020The man who shot Pope John Paul II, Mehmet Ali Agca says he is relieved that his victim did not die. “It was destiny. And it was destiny he survived. I am very glad he didn’t die. “The Pope became like a brother to me. When he died [in 2005] I felt like my brother Read more
McAleese says comment on St John Paul II being misrepresented
Monday, November 11th, 2019Former president Mary McAleese has told the country’s most senior Catholic bishops that she is being wrongly accused of misrepresenting Saint John Paul II’s views on sexual relationships. She told the prelates, including the Papal Nuncio, that her critics had taken out of context her recent comment that the Catholic Church was deliberately making women Read more
‘The fragile world’: Church teaching on ecology before and by Pope Francis
Monday, September 16th, 2019
How does Pope Francis’ thinking about ecology compare with that of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI? Catholic teaching on ecology prior to Pope Francis In 1971 the document Justice in the World, issued by the Synod of Bishops, represented a major step in the development of Catholic teaching on the environment; Barbara Ward-Jackson Read more
How Our Lady of Fatima kept Pope John Paul II going
Tuesday, May 17th, 2016
During the late John Paul II years, one constant bit of subtext on the Vatican beat was the pope’s health and his physical capacity to lead. I used to joke that my definition of bliss would be never having to go on TV or radio again and start by saying, “Well, I’m not a doctor, Read more
Francis visits the Church John Paul II broke
Tuesday, September 29th, 2015
The last time there was this much excitement about a pope’s inaugural visit to the United States, Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” topped the Billboard charts, Jimmy Carter was in the White House, and cell phones were the size of a brick. But those aren’t the only differences between Pope John Paul II’s Read more
Cardinal Pell destroyed unity of abuse response: Bishop
Tuesday, August 25th, 2015
A retired bishop has said Cardinal George Pell destroyed the unity of the Australian Church’s response to child sex abuse. Bishop Geoffrey Robinson said this during testimony to the Royal Commission on Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Sydney on Monday. Bishop Robinson worked with other bishops on an Australia-wide clergy response to abuse, Read more
Evangelium Vitae — the Gospel of Life — twenty years on
Friday, March 27th, 2015
Last week, a young friend of mine attempted to defend the truth about marriage among a group of peers at a secular university. She presented a meaningful argument about families, social stability, and gender complementarity. None of her classmates refuted her arguments. Instead, they accused her of being a bigot and a homophobe, called her Read more