(National Catholic Reporter).
It was a bit jarring to see a recent secular media account of how some parishes are being taken over by extreme right bishops — especially when it was presented with a blaring headline that suggests the Catholic Church in the United States is somehow on a mass march into the past. “A step back in time” the Associated Press headline announced. “America’s Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways.”
(National Catholic Reporter. Christopher White).
When the Second Vatican Council opened in 1962, the influential French Dominican theologian Fr. Yves Congar is said to have remarked that it was the Council of Louvain, being held in Rome. Congar’s observation was meant to convey that the Catholic University of Louvain, long known as a rich breeding ground for theological activity, was finally being recognized in Rome. Vatican II emphasized the contributions of all the “people of God,” and that laity were equal with clergy as participants in the life of the church — and Louvain was educating lay theologians even before the council began.
(Natioional Catholic Reporter).
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker railed against Pride month, working women, President Biden’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend. The three-time Super Bowl champion delivered the roughly 20-minute address Saturday at the Catholic private liberal arts school in Atchison, Kansas, which is located about 60 miles north of Kansas City.
(National Catholic Reporter. Justin Mclellan).
Faith leaders must collaborate with public and private partners to set an example on combating climate change for the communities they serve, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said while standing in the Vatican Gardens. “People look to their faith leaders”, she told Catholic News Service on the sidelines of a Vatican conference May 15. “It’s incredibly powerful and important for faith leaders to be talking about climate and to be working with others in government, in business, in philanthropy, in academe on these issues.”
(National Catholic Report. Gina Christian).
A Chicago priest has issued an apology for performing recently a blessing of a same-sex couple, which was filmed and posted on social media. Vincentian Father Joseph S. Williams, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Chicago, said in a May 8 statement — which was issued by the Vincentians’ Western Province — that he was “deeply sorry for any confusion and/or anger that this has caused, particularly for the People of God.”
(National Catholic Reporter. Christopher White).
“Women in the Catholic Church have very diverse views … as they do across society, and I think that’s something that has emerged through the synodal process,” said Ambassador Chiara Porro. “But one of the positives of the synod that I see in this regard is that people are more willing to put forward their views in a way that’s not confrontational,” she said. “And with the understanding that people will have different views, and that has changed during my time here.”
(National Catholic Reporter. Cindy Wooden).
Because faith in God is not abstract but impacts the way people live and interact with others, theologians must engage with experts in other fields of knowledge as they investigate and explain the Christian faith, Pope Francis wrote.
“Theologians, are like the scouting party sent by Joshua to explore the land of Canaan” in the Book of Numbers; “they are charged with finding the right paths toward the inculturation of the faith,” Francis wrote in a message he handed to members of the International Network of Societies for Catholic Theology May 10.
(National Catholic Reporter. Christopher White).
Ahead of meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican this weekend, New York’s Mayor Eric Adams hailed the pontiff as a global “influencer” and one of the few world leaders to help lead during “dark times”. “He is what children would say, he’s an influencer. He’s a credible messenger,” Adams told National Catholic Reporter in a May 10 interview.
(National Catholic Reporter. Tonny Onyulo).
Residents of this eastern town of Uganda are still in disbelief months after police arrested a 48-year-old pastor accused of hacking his 44-year-old wife to death.
“The pastor killed his pregnant wife because he suspected her of having an extramarital affair with another man in this area,” said Irene Mukasa, a resident of Bupoto, about the Jan. 4 slaying. “We are still in shock because no one is safe. Even men serving God at different levels have also become perpetrators of domestic violence.”
(LAURETTA BROWN. National Catholic Reporter).
More than 2,500 Catholic bishops, priests, women religious, academics, laypeople and Catholic groups have called for a cease-fire in Gaza in a letter to U.S. President Joe Biden and other world leaders.
“We continue to plead for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and adherence to international law by all parties,” they wrote, citing the calls of Pope Francis and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for a cease-fire in the region as well.
They highlighted statistics that over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly civilians, have been killed by Israel’s “military assault marked by indiscriminate bombing.”
The letter added that “tens of thousands more are severely injured without access to adequate medical care; half of Gazans are facing famine; and most have been displaced from their homes, 70% of which have been destroyed.”
(PETER DALY. National Catholic Reporter).
Our little delegation has returned from Ukraine.
Four of us went to that war-torn country, at our own expense, to bear witness to the suffering of the Ukrainian people and to listen to their voices regarding the war. Our focus was on the trauma of war and the mental health of the people, two years after the full-scale invasion by Russia. We also wanted to meet people working with the Ukrainian military, to see how they are holding up and what they need.
(JEANNINE GRAMICK. National Catholic Reporter).
Ihave been very sad since April 8, 2024, when the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith promulgated Dignitas Infinita, the Declaration on Human Dignity. I have felt the immense grief among LGBTQ people and their families and friends. This document states many beautiful and essential truths, but the section on Gender Theory, which condemns “gender ideology,” is harming the transgender people I love.
(CINDY WOODEN. National Catholic Register).
The spiritual practice of reparation “may be somewhat forgotten or wrongly judged obsolete” today, but it is essential for the promotion of justice and healing, including on behalf of those who have suffered abuse in the church, Pope Francis said.
(CHRISTOPHER WHITE. NCR).
In 1960 — two years before the start of the Second Vatican Council — Pope John XXIII established 10 preparatory commissions to lay the foundation of what would become a landmark event opening up the church to the modern world.
Among the major outcomes of the 1962-1965 council was the establishment of the Synod of Bishops, meant to promote greater collegiality between bishops and the pope. And under the Francis papacy, the synod has evolved dramatically, including for the first time ever in 2023, the participation of lay people who have a right to vote on the assembly’s final document.
(NCR. KATIE COLLINS SCOTT).
Pope Francis warmly and repeatedly interacts with transgender individuals, sanctioned a document that affirms trans people can serve as Catholic godparents, and has praised the work of LGBTQ advocacy groups previously denounced by the Vatican. But he also recently approved a new treatise on human dignity that lists “gender theory” and gender-affirming surgeries — which many, though not all, trans people undergo — among the “grave violations of human dignity in our time,” placing them alongside sexual abuse, human trafficking, poverty and abortion. NCR asked three Catholic theologians how they view Dignitas Infinita (“Infinite Dignity”), issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on April 8, in light of the pope’s notable actions of welcome toward the trans community. Their answers have points of agreement but also mirror the broader discourse in the U.S. church, where portions of the document have been met with praise, gratitude, disappointment and fear.
(EDUARDO CAMPOS LIMA. OSV News. NCR).
SAO PAULO, Brazil. The number of conflicts over land, water or forest territories grew in Brazil in 2023, reaching 2,203 cases and impacting more than 950,000 people, according to the bishops’ conference’s Land Pastoral Commission.
(NCR. EANNINE M. PITAS).
AHarvard-based lawyer who facilitates conflict resolution workshops, the founder of a national movement focused on depolarizing conversations, and an NGO leader with international peacebuilding experience were among the featured speakers at the inaugural Paulist Summit on Polarization, held in Las Vegas April 19-21. “Polarization is a first-order crisis,” Paulist Fr. Ricky Manalo, a celebrated Catholic composer and leader of his order’s Initiative on Polarization, told NCR. “We can’t talk, debate, or dialogue about any issue until we learn how to talk with one another,” he said. “Abortion, ecology, immigration, gender and marriage, gun control — we are wasting our time trying to have meaningful discussions or debates in a toxic context where we don’t listen to one another. We need to create, nurture and promote contexts for fruitful dialogue.”
(NCR. CAMILLO BARONE).
Retired U.S. Cardinal Raymond Burke decried what he termed the “persecution” of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass during a men’s breakfast event in New York City on April 23. Burke, a former head of the Vatican’s highest court who has taken an increasingly critical tone against Pope Francis over the last decade, also offered his views on denying Communion to Catholic politicians who support abortion rights to an all-male audience of about 150 at the New York Men’s Leadership Forum. On the Latin Mass, which Francis reimposed restrictions on in 2021, Burke said, “The Eucharist is so diminished today,” in part due to the conciliar reforms, “which made it seem like just some kind of everyday thing.
(DAVID E. DECOSSE. NCR on line).-
The students and I stood in a packed migrant shelter in Altar, Sonora, Mexico, in front of several young men who had clambered down from three-tiered bunk beds attached high up on the wall.
“What do you want us to tell people back in the United States about you?” one of us asked. Altar is 60 miles south of the border and a key staging point for the migration route north.
(CHRISTOPHER WHITE. NCR on line).
Akey synod adviser says Pope Francis is more interested in deepening the practice of synodality within the Catholic Church rather than wading into debates over the hot-button issues that have emerged from his major, three-year process to reform the global institution.