A Liberal’s Lament, and the Problem of ‘Exculturation’, by Phil Lawler

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture, May 30, 2024

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org.

Two noteworthy essays appeared online today:

1. Father Tom Reese, the liberal Jesuit journalist who was a persistent critic of Pope Benedict XVI, has now become a critic of Pope Francis. The title of his his piece in the National Catholic Reporter says it all: “Pope Francis disappoints progressives. He will do so again.” Reflecting on the Pope’s “No” to female deacons and his crude remark about “fa***try” in seminaries, Father Reese says with regret that this Pope is “unwilling to change church teaching in any radical way.” He “sometimes sounds like a grandfather who says things that make his grandchildren cringe.”

   Poor Father Reese is pessimistic about the prospects for change in the Church—at least for the sort of change he would favor. His bleak analysis recognizes the failed dreams of those who confidently predicted, after Vatican II, that having opened the windows, the Church would throw everything out: ….

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