Catholic Church

October 26, 2023

Do Synod Doubters Really Trust the Holy Spirit? by Richard P. Maggi

By Richard P. Maggi, Crisis Magazine - History has demonstrated that the Holy Spirit has a way of confounding conventional expectations. Those of us who fear the worst about this synod should show more trust and confidence in the Holy Spirit—that, if we are right about what the Church has and should continue to teach, He will vindicate those views, in whole or in part, between now and the conclusion of next year’s last synod session... In the meantime, until the Church speaks authoritatively, prominent cardinals, bishops, theologians, and faithful Catholics, should continue to respectfully explain why the Church cannot change the contested doctrines. ..

October 26, 2023

The Religion of Global Climate Change, by Michael Pakaluk

By Michael Pakaluk, The Catholic Thing - My worry about Laudate Deum (“all you praise God”), the recent Apostolic Exhortation “to all people of good will on the climate crisis,” is that because it is represents an incursion into the domain of the laity, it implicitly converts a matter of prudence, which always involves an awareness of trade-offs, into a matter of faith... I take my doctrine on the laity from Vatican II. In Lumen gentium, bishops are accorded the role of defining doctrine in faith and morals. Their specific competence in this task “extends as far as the deposit of Revelation extends.” (n. 25) The laity in contrast are tasked with applying these principles to the world ....

October 25, 2023

Why Celebrate Mass Ad Orientem? by Joseph Shaw

By Joseph Shaw, Catholic Answers - The subject of which direction the priest should stand while celebrating Mass has generated a great deal of attention since about the middle of the twentieth century. The celebration of Mass “facing the people” (versus populum) was officially encouraged after Vatican II, but the historic practice, of “facing East” (ad orientem), is still permitted in the reformed Mass and normative for the traditional Latin Mass.

October 25, 2023

Pope Francis to Catholic LGBTQ Leader: ‘Thank You for Your Ministry’, by Joe Bukuras

By Joe Bukuras, CNA, Catholic World Report - Stan “JR” Zerkowski heads the LGBTQ Outreach Commission for the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky. The commission is a “diocesan-wide effort of seeking, welcoming, accompanying, and ministering to the LGBT community.”... He also leads the LGBTQ+ Ministry at St. Paul Catholic Church in Lexington, a parish that has been the cause of controversy in the past, including for an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary draped in a gay pride flag posted on its website and a prayer to the Blessed Mother it shares under the title “Mother of Pride.”