Catholic Church

By George Weigel, First Things - Drawing on lay expertise does not diminish episcopal authority; it enhances it. Bringing lay expertise to bear on this crisis is essential in getting at the facts and restoring the badly eroded credibility of too many bishops—and the Vatican. The leadership of the U.S. bishops’ conference understood that, and the majority of American bishops were prepared to act on that understanding with serious remedies....

By Jimmy Akin, EWTN News - Penal substitution is a theory of the atonement that says God literally punished Jesus on the Cross... This theory is problematic because one cannot justly punish an innocent person, and Jesus was innocent. Therefore, for God to literally punish him would be unjust... In a previous post, I discussed how this view relates to other theories of the atonement. In this post, we’ll take a look at a proposed basis in Scripture for penal substitution.

By Regis Nicoll, Crisis Magazine - It seems peculiar that the gospel reading for the first Sunday of Advent centers not on Christ’s first coming, but his second. In all three liturgical years, the gospel passage is taken from the Olivet Discourse—Jesus’s lengthy response to the eschatological curiosities of the disciples. But maybe that is not as peculiar as it seems.

By Msgr. Charles Pope - Not only are (online breviaries) convenient but they also help to lessen the complexities that often go with setting up the traditional book… Setting the ribbons correctly can be a challenge, and the complexity of the “rules” during the Octave of Christmas is almost nightmarish… So, what could be the problem with using an electronic breviary? The problem is the loss of the “sacred.”