Jeanie Hannaman

September 24, 2019

Fr. Gerald E. Murray: Papal Standards – and Questions

By Fr. Gerald E. Murray, The Catholic Thing - Holy Father, it is three years since four cardinals sent you the Dubia concerning certain statements in Amoris Laetitia [AL]. Their request to meet with you and to receive a response has gone unanswered. Why? The Dubia cardinals simply brought to your attention the concerns and critiques of a significant number of perplexed Catholics who do not see how various statements in AL do not constitute a rejection of Catholic doctrine, especially in contested matters authoritatively dealt with by your two immediate predecessors... You tell reporters that you want to hear criticisms, and then ignore those criticisms from your closest collaborators? You tell bishops not to close their ears and doors to priests who want to discuss matters with them, when you have turned away for three years cardinals who exercised the Gospel frankness (parrhesia) you so often call for.

September 24, 2019

Newman at the Amazon Synod, by Dan Hitchens

By Dan Hitchens, First Things - For instance, one common criticism of the Amazon Synod’s working document is that it blurs the distinction between Catholicism and pagan nature-worship. The document is too clumsily-written to directly challenge Church doctrine, but its ambiguities seem to allow the possibility that paying homage to Mother Earth is practically as good as worshipping the Holy Trinity. “Indigenous rituals and ceremonies,” the document enthuses, “create harmony and balance between human beings and the cosmos.”

September 24, 2019

Msgr. Charles Pope: Strong Words from St. Augustine to those Who Would Be Shepherds

By Msgr. Charles Pope - St. Augustine, reflecting on a text from Ezekiel, has some strong words for those who would be shepherds, be they bishops, priests, or deacons. Let’s examine two important observations he made during a longer sermon delivered to the priests and people of Hippo… He begins with a lament over the failure of many shepherds to teach the truth: After the Lord had shown what wicked shepherds esteem, he also spoke about what they neglect. The defects of the sheep are widespread…

September 24, 2019

Vatican Office Suspends Indy Archdiocese’s Brebeuf Decision, by Bob Blake/Daniel Bradley

By Bob Blake and Daniel Bradley, RTV6 - A Vatican office has temporarily suspended the decision of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis to no longer recognize Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School as a Catholic institution over the school's refusal to fire a teacher in a same-sex marriage… The decision of the archdiocese to cut ties with Brebeuf was announced in June in a decree from Archbishop Charles C. Thompson… The school reached out to the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome to consider "the issues at hand and, hopefully, rescind and permanently set aside the Archbishop's decree."