My first synod was in 1985, when Pope John Paul II called an extraordinary synod to reflect on the Second Vatican Council 20 years after it ended. I have covered almost every synod since. It has never been easy. Meetings of the synod are usually closed, and the information released to the press is carefully Read more
According to the media, the most important issues facing the Synod on Synodality are the possibility of married priests, women deacons and the blessing of gay couples. The first session of the synod will take place in Rome this October, with a second session in October 2024. I personally hope the synod deals with these Read more
After reading last week’s column, “Global warming is here and getting worse,” my brother, who is president of a Jesuit high school, responded, “Great article, but you just describe the problems. I’d never let you out of my office until you gave me a solution.” The good news is there are ways to reduce and Read more
Since he was elected in 2013, Pope Francis has been remaking the College of Cardinals in preparation for the next conclave that will elect his successor. He has made the college more international, less European, less curial, more pastoral and less ideological. Like every pope before him, Francis has been looking for men who reflect Read more
Nearly two years into the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis’ global effort to listen to what Catholics think about their church, most American Catholics still find it unintelligible, from its seemingly circular name to its goals and methodology. If an American were in charge of running the pope’s synod, it would be very different. Americans Read more
When Pope Francis was elected 10 years ago, I was sitting in front of a BBC camera preparing to be interviewed and uttered a word I cannot print in my column. Luckily, my mic had not been turned on. All I knew about Jorge Bergoglio was that my friends in Latin America, liberation theologians and Read more
The Eucharist should be the centre of Catholic life, but falling church attendance on Sundays shows that the centre is crumbling. This, along with declining belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, has caused great concern among Catholic bishops, who have launched a Eucharistic revival effort. During the first half of the Read more
The Eucharistic prayer is the most important and least understood prayer in the Catholic Mass. Most Catholics see it as the priest’s prayer that is centred on the consecration of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Many priests use Eucharistic Prayer II, the shortest of the 13 versions of the Read more
To understand the Eucharist, we must remember that Jesus and his first disciples were all Jews. We might even say the first Christians were Jewish heretics because, unlike their fellow Jews, they believed Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. After Pentecost, the Jewish Christians continued to go to the temple to pray. If they were Read more
I always tried to give Cardinal George Pell the benefit of the doubt, which is why it is so disappointing to find out that the Australian prelate, who died January 10, was the author of a memorandum attacking Pope Francis. The memo, published on a Vatican blog last March under the pseudonym “Demos,” was circulated Read more