The forced resignation of the widely respected Tony Spence, who had a long history of serving the Catholic press, raises questions about changes at the USCCB.
If John Paul II was the philosopher and Benedict XVI the theologian, Pope Francis is the poet pope, giving voice to the dreams and wisdom of migrants and the poor.
Anticipation builds for release of Francis's document on marriage and family; impatience with his speed for reforming the Curia and replacing top Vatican officials.
Holy See Press Office rushes to defense of priest abusers; New papal diplomats appointed; Cardinal tells journalists priests are "not obliged" to wash women's feet.
Women at third annual "Voices of Faith" hampered by self-censorship; For every bishop Francis appoints that "smell of the sheep," there are ten career clericalists.
Pope Francis's "seemingly ambivalent" attitude toward clergy sex abuse; Canadian archbishop calls for the church to involve women in all levels of ecclesial life.
The Vatican announces world tour for holy corpses; Relics arrive in Rome escorted by paramilitary police; Francis calls religious to "pray more" to raise vocations.
Luke Timothy Johnson provides an important alternative to the “theologies of the body” on offer among those thinkers elaborating themes fashioned by John Paul II.
Engagement with vexing questions is part of the life of a pilgrim church. It is strangely un-Catholic to assert that doctrine does not and cannot change.
In Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, traditionalists disagree with Pope Francis's “polyhedron ecumenism”; In the U.S. they highlight the faults of married deacons.
At the end of his address to the Roman Curia, Pope Francis quietly invoked the memory of one of the most important reform-minded bishops in the United States.
Vatican confirms details of Francis's trip to Mexico; Francesca Chaouqui claims some cardinals want the pope dead; and globalization brings Christmas trees to Rome.
Pope Francis to everyone: reread Evangelii Gaudium; to bishops: be pastors, nothing more; to St. Peter's square audience: I need your help in reforming the church.
Francis to ordain bishop at the Lateran, not the Vatican; Two new books based on Vatican-insider leaks to be published this week; The Dominicans turn 800 years old
Cuba has changed since the last papal visit. Part of the difference comes from the dramatic shift in the Cuban-U.S. relationship, which Francis helped bring about.
Following the Orthodox Church, Francis announces World Day of Prayer's theme; U.S. Bishops don't. Why is Francis silent about mob's "Godfather-like" funeral in Rome?
Biographer Randy Boyagoda paints Richard John Neuhaus as an unusually ambitious and politically engaged priest as public intellectual—but is his narrative too tidy?
Who sits with Francis in the papal plane; How Benedict contrasts with history's other pope emeritus; Why one Italian mayor is mad the pope won't take a vacation.
Amusing and engaging, Barney Frank's stories (from sixteen terms in Congress) tell what kinds of “inside politicking” informed the presidencies of LBJ through Obama.
Francis's week: talking church reform with cardinals and peace with Vladimir Putin. And saints' bodies are en route to Rome. Is Francis reviving medieval devotions?
Readers "angered at the tortured logic of the editors" respond to the removal of Bishop Finn, Francis's failures, the value of "big history," and how to know Jesus.
Cardinal Parolin calls Ireland's gay marriage victory a "defeat for humanity"; progressives and traditionalists hold secret meetings to discuss Synod on the Family.
Oscar Romero will be declared a martyr, Francis tells bishops to stop "trying to tell Catholics what to do all the time," and cardinals deny the pope has enemies.
The starting point for the unraveling of Catholic confidence in the church’s sexual ethics is contraception. Shouldn't the next synod finally meet the issue head-on?
Argentine Archbishop predicts "the people of God" will support Francis's changes long after he's dead—and traditionalists cry schism while non-Catholics convert.
Charles Camosy believes we are “on the verge of a new moment in the abortion debate," politically capable of compromise. But has he misunderstood Catholic teaching?
Catholic opinion on climate change matches the American political spectrum, and thus the polemics around this polarizing issue are Catholic polemics as well
Controversy over the canonization of California's founding father continues; Bishop Finn is finally gone; and Pope Francis will make visit to U.S. Seminary in Rome.
Posner’s attempt to intertwine Vatican finance with a history of the papacy—"rampant corruption, pervasive nepotism, unbridled debauchery"—isn't neutral, or correct.
Holy Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of the evening when the Vatican’s deputy Secretary of State announced to the world that Pope John Paul II had died.
There is no question that “mercy” is one of the guiding leitmotifs of Francis’s pontificate. And last week, he emphasized there is no sin that cannot be forgiven.
There was no personal greeting from Pope Francis during a recent visit by New Ways LGBT pilgrims to Rome; the Vatican did not even properly acknowledge them.
