A sub-category of News.
Above: the State of Puebla, Mexico. Shoulders draped with chains, heads crowned with thorns, flesh punctured with cacti, ankles bound with fetters. Barefoot penitents stood, waiting to begin the annual Good Friday tradition: Procession of the Chained. Under the hot sun, the small group of men – performing acts of faith and acts of gratitude…
Many words could describe the Francis pontificate; to me, the best is ironic. Coming from Argentina, Jorge Bergoglio was considered the ultimate outsider who would bring another wave of aggiornamento to the Church; but instead, he appeared closed inside the stale ideas of liberalism. He criticized those he saw as “wanting to go back,” yet…
I am initially writing these words on February 19, 2025, and the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has pneumonia in both lungs. He is of advanced age and has not been in good health. He likely is dying, and now, in early April, we know this was his final illness. The near approach of death is…
Historically speaking, the Catholic Church has never been immune to hardships, suffering, and scandal. It’s easy to assume a diminutive approach that the events of the last twelve years, even more so the past sixty years, are unique to Church history. If we suppress our emotional attachment to the events of the past century, and…
A century ago, on April 22, 1925, a suburb of Paris witnessed the passing of André Caplet, a composer and conductor whose unique artistry distinguished him from his contemporaries. As the French poet and Germanist Maurice Boucher († 1977) astutely observed, Caplet “resembled none of his contemporaries and […] represented in his own way and…
Not even months into his new pontificate, Pope Francis declared, to a group of young people in Paraguay, “Go out and make a mess.” A puzzling remark from the Successor of St. Peter. As the years of his papacy went on, we witnessed what he meant. Year after year, he kept his promise. And the…
A few months ago I asked my spiritual father the following question. This is a questioned that has burned in me for years since I took over the editorship of OnePeterFive. It is a question that has troubled by conscience and caused me to lose a great deal of sleep. Here’s the question: My spiritual…
I remember distinctly the day Jorge Bergoglio was elected pope. Working for a diocese, I was in the middle of a meeting with an older woman and a deacon. They wanted to know if they could start a support group for families with members who were same-sex attracted. The woman’s son was a practicing homosexual,…
This year, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will observe Patriots’ Day on Monday, April 21, in honor of events that took place on April 19: the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy (Arlington). These are generally considered the beginning of the American Revolution, the first civil war, which resulted in the formation of these United States….
In the Gospel for Easter Sunday, we have St. John’s account of the two apostles, Peter and John, discovering the tomb empty. The evangelist records how John, the younger of the two, outran Peter and arrived first at the sepulcher. But the younger apostle deferred to Peter and allowed him to enter first. John followed,…
