Pope St. John Paul II: Witness to the world

CNS file photo This is the 10th in a series looking at the Church’s 12 most recent popes and the marks they’ve made on the Church. The series is appeared monthly throughout 2018. Sometimes it seemed as if Pope St. John Paul

Hope from listening to Catholics

What do serious, practicing Catholics think about the sexual abuse crisis? To find out, you can commission a public opinion survey or you can attend a parish listening session. I chose the latter approach, and the results were at least as illuminating

We need the truth

Statements by Pope Francis and U.S. bishops reacting to the Church’s sex abuse scandal suggest they are serious about getting to the roots of what happened and doing something meaningful about it. That includes the case of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick as well

John Paul I: The September pope

This is the ninth in a series looking at the Church’s 12 most recent popes and the marks they’ve made on the Church. The series is appearing monthly throughout 2018. When the cardinals gathered to choose a successor to Pope Paul VI,

Bright spots through the storm

It may seem crazy to speak of bright spots in the current crisis facing the Catholic Church. The scandal surrounding Archbishop Theodore McCarrick and the recent grand jury report documenting seven decades of clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups across six dioceses in

Greater lay role needed in choosing bishops?

In 1859 Father — later Cardinal — John Henry Newman published a long essay, which he called “On Consulting the Faithful in Matters of Doctrine.” Although controversial when it first appeared, it is still mined today for its insights. Now, however, the

Blessed Paul VI: Prophet for the modern world

This is the eighth in a series looking at the Church’s 12 most recent popes and the marks they’ve made on the Church. The series appeared monthly throughout 2018. In the 40 years since his death in August 1978, Blessed Pope Paul

The Kavanaugh fight

Soon Washington will again be offering the world the spectacle of one of the things it does best (or worst): a contested Senate confirmation hearing. This time it will be Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s turn to spend time on the rack in preparation