Category: Vatican

Having met Tony Flannery, the Irish Redemptorist priest, in 2014 when he toured the United States, I mourn for his current situation. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has asked him to assent to four statements, and he has declined. NCR and other outlets broke the news on September 15, and later…
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Just read in today WSJ that Pope Francis named six women to Vatican Economic Council.  The quote that struck me ..in the article..is women should be given roles that ..”do not entail holy orders” but allow them to serve  “in a way that reflects their womanhood” So doing budgets ..balance sheets…reflects womanhood..interesting now as there…
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“We are compelled to be transgressive.” Seven more women in France have come forward to join Anne Soupa and apply for positions denied to them. However, La Croix International devotes more space to arguments for not challenging ordination to priesthood or diaconate, but working within the church. What is transgressive? It’s a narrative that begins with…
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“All men are created equal.” Is there one among us who has not wished that this had been stated in another, more inclusive way? That the whole American project could have been based on a different premise? While we celebrate the progress we have made, we are conscious of how much more we want to…
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In the women’s supplement to the May issue of L’Osservatore Romano, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet calls for more women in seminaries! But it’s not for the good of the women, though I would be happy if more academic jobs were made available to women theologians. No, this is for the good of the seminarians. I’m…
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France always makes me smile, whether or not I ever get to return. On a river barge cruise, we stopped for a home-hosted visit on a national holiday, Pentecost Monday. What? After the French Revolution and the secularization of society, the French still celebrate Pentecost Monday? Our small group was fortunate enough to be hosted…
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[Editors’ note: In this time when the need for connection is greater than ever, we are increasing the frequency of our blog posts to three times a week.] Sometimes a victory is measured in something as small as two words. After obtaining our official status as a recognized Non Governmental Organization (NGO) in the United…
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Joan Chittister’s “Prayer for Leadership” inspires me today (Thursday, February 6, 2020). She begins, Give us, O God, leaders whose hearts are large enough to match the breadth of our own souls and give us souls strong enough to follow leaders of vision and wisdom. This prayer puts in context not only our national politics,…
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Last week I wrote about the German synod and women. This week I want to write about synods more generally, inspired by Massimo Faggioli’s article in La Croix International, “Synodality and the abuse crisis: The Church is still stuck in Trent.” But he begins by writing about the First Vatican Council convened in 1869, which…
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SO CLOSE AND YET… I guess, the more we read it, we can all be encouraged by Laudato Si. We could even go a step further and be proud. For a change, the Vatican is actually acting like a positive role model. I came across this briefing by Carol Glatz in the Catholic News Service:…
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