Catholic Church

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."

September 24, 2019

Meet the New Faculty at the John Paul II Institute, by Richard A. Spinello

By Richard A. Spinello, Crisis Magazine - Those who are dismayed by the dramatic transformation of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Rome can find no comfort in the newest faculty appointments. Longtime faculty members such as Livio Melina and Stanislaw Grygiel have been fired and the Institute’s mission has been redefined under the leadership of Archbishop Paglia, the new Grand Chancellor.