A sub-category of News.
Before excommunicating Viganò, the Vatican holds hands for a photo op with the German bishops. As many readers are well aware, the event of Vatican II was accurately described by Fr. Ralph Wiltgen as the “Rhine flowing into the Tiber.” Indeed, one Vatican insider told me this: So since Vatican II, we’ve had a curious…
You may have wondered, “Should Catholics use pronouns?” It may be near impossible not to. The simple and obvious answer, grammatically speaking, is yes, of course we should use pronouns if we want our language to be clear and correspond to reality. In the English language, we use pronouns all the time to keep sentences…
After his spectacularly dreadful debate performance against Donald Trump, Joe Biden jumped on the opportunity (if that phrase can be applied to the man) to calm the storm of calls for his resignation by having an interview on ABC—to prove to the 50 million debate watchers who cringingly watched him sputtering like an old jalopy…
Well, it happened. The most severe penalty has again been leveled against a Catholic Bishop by the Holy See, and Archbishop Viganò has been excommunicated (original Italian decree here). My first thought at hearing the news made me grieve with the words of the Prophet: why do the wicked prosper? Who will rise up for…
Clock off. Shove the papers in your briefcase; it’s quittin’ time. Time to head home. And then what? It seems to me that even among Christians committed to living a life not entirely subject to their phones, and who appreciate good books, art, and music, there is often a lethargy in actively seeking out leisure…
The other shoe finally dropped: Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former papal nuncio to the United States who came to worldwide fame during the 2018 McCarrick scandal, has been excommunicated. This came as no surprise to those who have been following the Archbishop’s actions in recent years, but nonetheless it is always shocking when a high-ranking…
This 7th Sunday after Pentecost is the 17th anniversary of the day Pope Benedict XVI released the text of Summorum Pontificum, 07-07-07, the liturgical “emancipation proclamation” for those who desire the benefits of the Vetus Ordo. Let us pray earnestly for those who are charged with the governance of such matters now, that they eschew…
For those of us fortunate enough to be annealed in hope, our horizons shaped by the Event of Jesus Christ, the situation we face can be stated quite simply. That for all the turmoil of the times in which we live, from a collapsing culture to a politics poisoned by hate, our lives nevertheless remain…
Above: Jewish Composer András Schiff, one of several significant non-Catholic signers. All traditional Catholics know the story: that Agatha Christie and various others signed a petition to Pope Paul VI in 1971 asking him not to prohibit the celebration of the Traditional Mass, and he relented: at least, he allowed it to be celebrated publicly…
When I worked in the Cleveland Diocese’s Latin American Mission, Catholic Relief Services and the University of Central America (the Jesuit “inspired” UCA) often invited me and other colleagues for the visit of celebrities and activists from the United States who were doing a star turn in El Salvador. That is how I met Cardinal…
