What is it with the Roman Catholic Church and women? It’s not as if they just arrived on the scene and need to be integrated into the life of the Church. In fact, they are the life of the Church. It is the women who predominantly do the heavy lifting of Catholic life; they educate, Read more
Listening to diverse perspectives is the only way Catholics can understand the biggest issues impacting the Church, says US Bishop Daniel Flores (pictured). He explains that this way they’ll hear different world views from Catholics who come from different countries and cultures or have different life experiences from theirs. “Perspective is not the enemy of Read more
In my last blog, I reported on the enthusiasm that filled me and many other synod participants during the retreat days. The enthusiasm gave way to a certain disillusionment after two more days. That was to be expected. But the fact that it would happen so quickly and that this “sobering up process” even began Read more
During his visit to Belgium, Pope Francis was warmly received September 28 at the University of Louvain, which was celebrating its 600th anniversary. And yet, the event left a bitter aftertaste. Confronted by a group of students and faculty over “the invisibility of women” in his encyclical Laudato si’, “Christian ecofeminism,” and the role of Read more
Many Catholics were hasty to assume that the opening ceremony of the Olympics went out of its way to “mock” the Last Supper. The instant outrage the tableau aroused — right or wrong — tells a larger story about something that has happened in Catholic life across the last four decades. But it has not Read more
Pope Francis has made perfectly clear that he is opposed to ordaining women as deacons. Although I disagree with him, I accept that we are not going to see women deacons during his pontificate. But if Francis or anyone else opposes ordaining women deacons, there is a simple solution: stop ordaining anyone as deacons, and Read more
From one synod session to another, where do we stand? “The Holy People of God has been set in motion for mission thanks to the synodal experience,” declared Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich S.J., General Rapporteur of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Invited to exchange ideas using the method of spiritual conversations, Read more
Fr Timothy Radcliffe, the Dominican friar, was chosen by Pope Francis to lead the three-day retreat for all participants prior to the first assembly last October of the Synod on Synodality. This was a position of great trust given the eyes of the Catholic world were gazing at this potentially earth-shattering event. Who is Fr Read more
Without doubt, the best line to emanate from the Synod on Synoldality is “Excuse me, Your Eminence, she has not finished speaking.” That sums up the synod and the state of the Catholic Church’s attitude toward change. In October, hundreds of bishops, joined by lay men and women, priests, deacons, religious sisters and brothers met Read more
At the Synod on Synodality, the Western media focused on a limited number of hot-button issues — women’s ordination, married priests and blessing of gay couples. But hidden in the synod participants’ 40-page synthesis are some surprising gems that could lead to significant reform in the church. The hidden gems The first is a new Read more