Seminaries still have a role to play, and should not be abolished. But they should no longer be factories for clericalism, elitism, and misogyny, as they often are.
The only adequate response to the clergy sex-abuse crisis is a paschal response: death to one way of being and resurrection to a truly new way of life.
Despite its ‘motivated blindness,’ which allowed the abuse crisis to metastasize in the church over decades, the Vatican finally takes steps toward systemic change.
Contrary to the narrative put forward by major news outlets, the resignation of the all-female board at ‘Women-Church-World’ was not caused by clericalism.
Some Catholics have critiqued the Document on Human Fraternity for its theology of religion, but little attention has been paid to its reception in the Arab world.
The history of the Children’s Crusade deepens my understanding of the present: yes, the “little ones” suffer, but they retain a sense of dignity, even hope.
Pope Francis is a highly original and supple thinker, with a breadth of knowledge accumulated over five decades. A new book fleshes out his intellectual journey.
The defamation of Cardinal Toribio Ticona follows an all-too-familiar pattern, as one of Pope Francis’s appointments becomes a proxy in church culture wars
The four-day Vatican summit on sex abuse revealed an unsettling paradox: the hierarchy practicing reform, and victims’ groups scorning of a missed opportunity
The grand-jury report does not substantiate the prevailing script about how bishops let predators get away with committing and recommitting their crimes
The twin phenomena of integralism and intransigentism, on the rise among some US Catholics, can actually be construed as ways of leaving Catholicism behind
Greg Burke brought an American way of doing business to a dysfunctional press office. But he quickly grew weary of the Vatican’s culture of caution and cover-up
Rather than further controversy over nomenclature, the church needs a theology adequate to the current scientific understanding of sexuality and gender
Scapegoating gay priests and pining for a world in which most Catholics agree with church teaching on birth control is no way to confront the abuse crisis
Synod delegates have become increasingly outspoken about young people on the margins, calling particular attention to the suffering of migrants and refugees
A new book examines the origins of the pope-centered church, in which we assume that the bishop of Rome writes encyclicals, convokes councils, and declares saints
Walks through Rome on the eve of the Synod reveal that the church’s unruly irregularity is not a liability, but instead its greatest, most precious asset
Rather than introducing unprecedented ‘changes’ to the catechism, Pope Francis has simply pushed his predecessors’ intuitions to their logical conclusion
While the former nuncio’s incendiary claims have been largely discredited, Pope Francis still needs to articulate a path forward through the sex-abuse crisis
I could detail the reasons for my personal gratitude to the church, but like many at this moment, I am struggling, wondering if the church can meet its obligations
Three ecclesial structures inherited from the Council of Trent are still with us today, and must be changed if the church is to be meaningfully reformed
If there is something to seize from this moment, it is the opportunity to envision—with vigor, clarity, and discernment—meaningful and measurable reform
