Recent Editorial

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  Don’t blame Francis for Church’s divisions

  Jul 22, 2017

  Some conservative Catholics have blamed Pope Francis for sowing division among the members of the Body of Christ. But the charge is more properly lodged against one of the heroes of conservative Catholicism in the United States: the late Richard John Neuhaus.

  
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  Pope Francis’ way of reform

  Jul 14, 2017

  Last December, Pope Francis dedicated his annual talk to members of the Roman Curia (RC) right before Christmas to the theme of reform, and today I wish to highlight to you some of the key elements of that speech.

  
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  Choosing Cardinals from the peripheries

  Jul 14, 2017

  For a wide swath of Catholics, the appointment of cardinals only underscores the gap between the official church’s talk about the rights and dignity of women and its lack of action on women’s behalf. This certainly dashes the hopes of all who share Pope Francis’ stated desire “to create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the church.”

  
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  Noose is tightening around Christians in Turkey

  Jul 07, 2017

  The ancient Syrian Orthodox Monastery of Mor Gabriel has been subjected to constant and unfair legal attacks since 2008.

  
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  Will Cardinal Pell’s exit advance Pope Francis’ financial reforms?

  Jul 07, 2017

  You can bet the Holy See’s huge financial and real estate assets that, de facto, he is finished as Prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy, the office that monitors those vast resources.

  
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  US strategy in the Middle East is deeply problematic

  Jun 23, 2017

  In his landmark speech last month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President Trump called on all “responsible nations” to “work together to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria, eradicate ISIS and restore stability to the region.” While all three are desirable goals, the strategy for achieving them that Mr Trump outlined in that same speech will achieve precisely the opposite.

  
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  What does The Joy of the Gospel look like?

  Jun 23, 2017

  It’s been nearly four years since Pope Francis released his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, or TheJoy of the Gospel.

  
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  We must work for peace

  Jun 23, 2017

  Pope Francis has said that he will never give up calling for stronger efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and for people to stop being indifferent to the fate of the region’s people.

  
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  Laity to be consulted in the selection of new Diocesan Bishops

  Jun 23, 2017

  One of the members of the Council of Cardinals said the group is considering whether to advise Pope Francis to make it mandatory for Vatican ambassadors to consult with laypeople before making recommendations for possible new bishops in the Catholic Church.

  
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  New Ecclesial Movements changing the Church?

  Jun 16, 2017

  During the modern papacy, and especially since John Paul II, Pentecost Sunday has practically become the feast of new ecclesial movements like Focolare, Communion and Liberation, and the Community of Sant’Egidio. In the first week of June, Francis repeated the anti-sectarian message he has given to all the Catholic movements he’s met during his pontificate: embrace unity in diversity, and resist the temptation to focus on differences, to choose to be “(a) part over the whole, to belong to this or that group before belonging to the Church,” or to adopt “rigid and airtight positions.”