Critics, Enemies, and the Difference

by Francis X. Maier

Critics are not always enemies. Some speak out of love, even when their words are heated. Continue Reading »

21 Aug 2023 0

Taking Aim at Francis

by William Doino Jr.

Details are still coming out about the arrest of four men who were allegedly plotting to attack Pope Francis, but the initial reports are harrowing enough. Continue Reading »

7 Dec 2015 0

Synod 2015 Revisited

by George Weigel

It’s been over a month since Synod-2015 finished its work. Yet there is still no official translation of the Synod’s Final Report into the major world languages from the original Italian (a language regularly used by 8/10 of one per cent of the world’s population). That’s a shame because, in . . . . Continue Reading »

2 Dec 2015 0

What Comes After the Synod

by Janet E. Smith

Whatever Pope Francis does in the wake of the Synod on the Family, we have a new Humanae Vitae moment on our hands. Decades of relentless infighting over what exactly the Church teaches is on the horizon and will negatively affect the priesthood, religious life, religious institutions, parishes, . . . . Continue Reading »

5 Nov 2015 0

Toasting the Conscience

by James Conley

In Letter to the Duke of Norfolk, Blessed John Henry Newman suggests gamely that religion should never be the subject matter for after-dinner social toasts. But, he says “if I am obliged to bring religion into after-dinner toasts, I shall drink—to the Pope, if you please—still, to Conscience . . . . Continue Reading »

22 Oct 2015 0

A Blessed Loss

by George Weigel

Written from Rome:During Synod-2015, I’ve been reading John Martin Robinson’s Cardinal Consalvi: 1757-1824, a biography of Pope Pius VII’s secretary of state, one of the most impressive churchmen of his day, or indeed any day. Ercole Consalvi, born into the Roman nobility as the winds of . . . . Continue Reading »

21 Oct 2015 0

Pius XII, Co-Conspirator in Tyrannicide

by George Weigel

Written from Rome:The great Piazza San Pietro is a five minute walk from where I’m living during Synod-2015. About three-quarters of the Square is bounded by the famous Bernini colonnades, which reach out from the Vatican basilica as if to embrace the world. Along the open “front” of the . . . . Continue Reading »

14 Oct 2015 0

Issues Beneath Issues at Synod 2015

by George Weigel

Written from Rome: Since Pope Francis announced that two Synods would examine the contemporary crisis of marriage and the family and work to devise more evangelically dynamic responses to that crisis, a lot of attention has focused on issues of Catholic discipline: How does the Church determine . . . . Continue Reading »

7 Oct 2015 0

Synod on the Family

by R. R. Reno

The following is a preview segment of R. R. Reno's “The Public Square” from our upcoming November issue. Another segment can be found here. A group of bishops from around the world gathers in Rome this week. The synod’s topic is the family. But the underlying issue is . . . . Continue Reading »

5 Oct 2015 0

Instrumentum Laboris

by R. R. Reno

Last fall, in preparation for this fall’s Synod on the Family, an extraordinary synod met in Rome. Between that meeting and this year’s, a Vatican-­appointed committee produced a document. It’s called the Instrumentum Laboris, the working document to guide deliberation. Reading it is a ­depressing experience. It reminds me of how weak Catholicism’s ­intellectual culture has become, at least in some official circles.

4 Oct 2015 0