While attending a Holy See press conference about nine or ten years ago, I pointed out to the officials who were unveiling a new document that a number of things in the text did not appear to be in line with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). Immediately, some of the younger colleagues Read more
Sixty years ago this week, Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council, Vatican II, in St Peter’s Basilica. The council, which produced over a dozen documents and initiated sweeping reforms, is difficult to summarise. It is not any easier to summarise the timeline of reactions since those documents were promulgated. One reading goes like Read more
Pope Francis called for Church unity at Mass on Tuesday, commemorating the Second Vatican Council’s 60th anniversary. Known as Vatican II (1962-1965), the Council taught the Church to see the world around it, Francis said. In his homily, he described the special Mass an act of love toward God and a remedy to the acute Read more
The Bishops’ Conference of the Nordic Countries recently wrote an open letter to the German Bishops’ Conference to voice concerns over the Synodal Path now underway in Germany. They ‘“let rip” at the Germans. The Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland Church leaders’ letter is an excellent example of one group of bishops seeing the Read more
Dear Pope Francis, ‘The purpose of the Synod, and therefore of this consultation, is not to produce documents, but to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another, create a bright resourcefulness that will enlightened Read more
Pope Francis has approved further clarifications regarding restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass in an effort to ensure that liturgical reform is “irreversible” and that liturgical celebrations adhere to the changes made after the Second Vatican Council. The clarifications, published Dec. 18, ban priestly ordinations and confirmations in the old rite and limit the frequency Read more
Pope Francis knows how to cause a stir with his statements. But even when the current Bishop of Rome says things that should not be newsworthy, they are objectively relevant in the context of the embattled Catholic Church of today. One example: the pope recently said that the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) shaped his theological Read more
Pope Francis said the Second Vatican Council so shaped his theological and pastoral vision that perhaps he has not been as explicit as he should have been in highlighting those ties, especially when it comes to his contributions to Catholic social teaching. He made the comments in the preface to a new book, Siblings All, Read more
A Synodal Church is not just another idea, it is ‘the’ idea, Thomas O’Loughlin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Nottingham told CathNews. “If we fail to embrace this challenge we shall have little to offer and shall become an irrelevant religious sect with massive museums and a complex back story.” Pope Francis has said Read more
The Archbishop of Paris has announced Saint-Merry Pastoral Center, the city’s most progressive Catholic parish is to close on March 1. The announcement has been greeted with disbelief, sadness and anger by the parish community. They launched an online “appeal” to keep the centre open. In the first 48 hours, more than 2,000 people had Read more