The whole world is now infected. The coronavirus continues to circle the globe, bringing the usual rhythms of life and commerce to an almost total standstill. The pandemic caught most countries and their people completely off-guard and unprepared. And many are already saying that this global crisis will force all of us to radically re-think Read more
We continue to hear of incidents that more than suggest that Catholics – and, in particular, their bishops – have learned very little from the clergy sexual abuse crisis. This is quite alarming and depressing because the Church in North America has been dealing with issues regarding priests who abuse children and teenagers for at Read more
It was only a matter of time. Pope Francis has finally lost his patience and gotten rid of Archbishop Georg Ganswein as prefect of the Papal Household. According to the German weekly, Die Tagespost, the pope put the 63-year-old on “indefinite administrative leave.” He did so, the paper said, because of the German prefect’s involvement Read more
When Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò called on Pope Francis to resign last summer for allegedly covering up the sexual crimes of the former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, it was “like an earthquake for the Church.” That’s how Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo, a former Vatican official and a longtime consultant for CBS News, described Viganò’s “testimony,” an 11-page Read more
The Catholic Church is being rocked — again — by high-level sexual abuse scandals, with allegations in recent weeks surfacing in Chile, Honduras and the District, home to Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a once-super-popular cleric who is facing accusations by five males of harassment or abuse. And again, people say they are shocked and outraged, which Read more
Pope Francis this weekend will ordain eleven new priests for the Diocese of Rome. At a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the Fourth Sunday of Easter, otherwise known as “Good Shepherd Sunday,” the pope will also ordain five other men for two different religious orders. But only five of Rome’s 11 new priests Read more
During the long reign of Pope John Paul II the Vatican’s semi-official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, was regularly derided as the church’s version of Pravda – the propaganda rag that the Communist Party in the former Soviet Union disseminated each day under the banner of “Truth.” The Vatican paper, which had devolved into a receptacle of Read more
As I was saying last time, before I was interrupted, Pope Francis is facing resistance to the fresh air and change of ethos he’s trying to bring about inside the Church. And those with eyes to see can detect this opposition especially among the current crop of seminarians and younger priests, as well as a Read more
British Catholic weekly The Tablet has announced it will no longer be using Robert Mickens as its Rome correspondent. The Tablet suspended Mickens in March after he called Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI “The Rat” and anticipated his death in a Facebook comment. The publication stated an inquiry would be carried out. About a month later, Read more