Catholic Church

By Raymond J. de Souza, First Things - In late June, just as I was arriving in Kraków, Poland, for the annual seminar in Catholic social teaching organized by George Weigel, there was a minor kerfuffle about a personal letter that Pope Francis had sent to Fr. James Martin, S.J. It brought to mind another private papal letter from twenty-seven years ago. Private correspondence, selectively shared, is one way that popes choose their interpreters.

By Jared Johnson, Crisis Magazine - If we believe, then we believe in the Lord’s permissive will as well as His active: evil is permitted on the grounds that it will give rise to greater good. This belief, though one of the most difficult in all theology, is also a comforting one as we take stock of crises, Traditionis Custodes being the latest in a long series.

By Anthony Esolen, The Catholic Thing - The faithful do not conclude that liturgy enlists man’s creative powers at their highest.  They conclude that the liturgy may be thus or so, ad libitum. It is a matter of indifference.  Many of them then fall into their own motu proprio and stay home and sleep late.  Nor do they feel guilty about it.  If liturgy may be thus or so, why not belief too? Arbitrium orandi, arbitrium credendi.