Jeanie Hannaman

By Phil Lawler, Catholic Culture - In March, as it became clear that Pope Francis was in declining health, I posted a short primer on “What to do when the conclave comes”—a guide for Catholics (and others) following the preparations for a papal election. Readers may find it helpful to look over that piece now. But since the conclave is still two weeks away, I thought I might offer some similar guidance on how to understand the sede vacante period: the days, or weeks, when there is no Pope.

By Austin Ruse, Crisis Magazine - As we pray for the Holy Father in his final agony, we wonder who the next pope will be and pray he will be a Trumpian pope, a bull in the china shop who will “make a mess.”... It is also what I voted for in 2016. The problem in 2016 was that politicized Democrat Deep Staters in the FBI, DOJ, military, CIA, federal judiciary, and Congress were in that china shop and illegally prevented the bull from doing his work. And they were cheered on by a thoroughly corrupted gutter press.

By Abp. Charles J. Chaput, First Things - In many ways, whatever its strengths, the Francis pontificate was inadequate to the real issues facing the Church. He had no direct involvement in the Second Vatican Council and seemed to resent the legacy of his immediate predecessors who did; men who worked and suffered to incarnate the council’s teachings faithfully into Catholic life. His personality tended toward the temperamental and autocratic. He resisted even loyal criticism. He had a pattern of ambiguity and loose words that sowed confusion and conflict. In the face of deep cultural fractures on matters of sexual behavior and identity, he condemned gender ideology but seemed to downplay a compelling Christian “theology of the body.”