Catholic Church

By Hannah Brockhaus, CNA - In the face of attacks on the family, the Church should strive to imitate the Holy Family, which shines through the darkness, said Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay... “In the midst of the great assaults on family values, and on the institution of the family itself, the Holy Family stands out like a bright, dazzling light,” the cardinal said in an Aug. 22 homily at the World Meeting of Families gathering in Dublin... “The model we all look to these days is the Holy Family of Nazareth: Jesus, Mary and Joseph.”

By Nicholas Senz, Aleteia - What is clericalism?... Clericalism is a disordered attitude toward clergy, an excessive deference and an assumption of their moral superiority. In the pithy description of Pope Francis, it’s when “Clerics feel they are superior, [and when] they are far from the people.” Yet, as Pope Francis wrote, clericalism can be “fostered by priests themselves or by lay persons”—laypeople can fall into clericalism, too!

By Joseph Pronechen, EWTN - “From the earliest ages of the Catholic Church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ.”

By Fr. Roger Landry, National Catholic Register - It is becoming clear that, unlike in 2002, when the U.S. bishops hastily adopted necessary but still inadequate reforms to address the sexual abuse of minors, leaving many other important aspects untouched, this time many Church leaders want to go beyond pruning some branches of clergy infidelity and episcopal malfeasance to addressing the evil at its roots. This is a sign of hope.